Dream Catch Me When I Fall
by HarryPotterCat
Summary: James Potter was picked to become champion for the Triwizard Tournament. Along his journey he, and his friends and siblings, encounter issues, people, moments and perhaps find who they're looking for. And of course, McGonagall doesn't help. UPDATING CH11.
1. First Day Back

**_You do not have to read these bold bits if you don't want to; it would just be advisable if you are new to this story or have nothing better to do._  
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**[A/N]: I'm currently in the process of updating, which is for the best (the old version was rubbish). I was inspired, in part, by Persephoneslove, who rightly pointed out that the old story was too complicated in terms of dialogue. It should be updated completely in about two weeks if I work endlessly on it; thank you for reading. Enjoy!**

**[A/N]: Contrary to my previous message, this story will most likely not be completed in two weeks. I'm currently working on another fanfiction, Heads on a Science Apart, which is Lysander/Lily and yes, I am using this space to mindlessly promote it. Nonetheless, I'll try and keep updating this with the better version which is still being written alongside Heads/Science Apart.  
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**TO NEW READERS: I'd advise you to read ch.11 onwards with caution, because that is, for now, still the old version. That is why there are undoubtedly massive plot-holes in terms of relationships or the Triwizard Tournament or, indeed, the amount of freckles on James's face. I apologise if these author notes put you off from reading this story; it is worth a shot reading, I promise you.  
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**I did consider deleting every chapter after those which I've edited (here, anything after ch.10) but that would get too complicated; I'd forget the chapter names; plus, I quite like my story hit count climbing higher and higher (I'M NOW UP TO FOUR BILLION! Just kidding, it's only three billion). Is it wrong to exploit attention for the sake of motivation to continue writing? Nah.  
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**I'll shut up now, because if I don't the majority of this story will turn out to be made up of author notes.  
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* * *

"The Heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders mid-October, and the selection of the three champions will take place on Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand galleons personal prize money," Professor McGonagall informed the students.

"I'm going for it!" James Potter hissed down the Gryffindor table, his face lit with enthusiasm. He was not the only one who seemed to be visualising themselves as Hogwarts champion. Everyone was either gazing raptly at McGonagall, or, like James, whispering fervently to those around them. Rose Weasley was chattering happily with her friends on the Ravenclaw side of the room; over at the Slytherin table, Scorpius Malfoy smirked superiorly. But then Professor McGonagall spoke again, and the Great Hall quieted.

"Eager though I know you all will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts, there is an age restriction. Only those who are seventeen or above will be allowed to put forward their names."

James's grin widened, for he turned seventeen last October; however, not all of the students in the Great Hall were pleased. Many fifth- and sixth-years were complaining loudly and a few of the younger students did not look too happy either.

"I do hope you become champion, James," said Lily Potter, a fourth-year Gryffindor, who was sitting between her two brothers. "Albus, please stop glaring at those seventh-years, you are supposed to be a Prefect."

Albus, the other Potter child who had entered the fifth-year this September, scowled harder under the watchful eye of his younger sister. The headmistress signaled dismissal, and everyone drowsily clambered up to leave.

James took this opportunity to wave at their cousin Rose, signaling for her to come over from the Ravenclaw table. She did so, dragging one of her giggling friends by the arm.

"Hello, cousins." Rose Weasley approached the Gryffindor side of the Hall quickly. "I can't talk long, I have to show the first-years the way to the dormitory."

She smiled, turning to James, and continued. "You are entering the tournament, aren't you?"

James grinned wickedly as students pushed past him to leave the Great Hall.

"Obviously," he replied, speaking slowly as though Rose were stupid. Rose rolled her eyes at him and turned away, grabbing her giggling friend Helena Davies by the hand. Helena was in Ravenclaw, fifth-year, and was rather prone to gossip. James Potter had secretly suspected that his brother fancied her - as the two Ravenclaw girls walked away Albus blushed, confirming James's theory.

"Don't you have first-years to shepherd up to our common room, too?" he asked Albus innocently, as the mass of students in the Hall thinned. Soon there was only the three Potter siblings, a group of Hufflepuffs and a timid line of Gryffindor first-years left in the Great Hall, the latter of which were waiting for Albus's leadership. "If you hurry, Al, you might be able to follow Rose and Helena."

Albus narrowed his eyes from behind his glasses and stalked away, barking instructions to the first-years and leading them out of the Great Hall. Lily giggled and together she and James mounted the Great Hall staircase towards their Common Room.

* * *

The next morning dawned unusually bright and early; and James, waking up late as usual, put his whole uniform on backward. He didn't realise what the other Gryffindor students were sniggering about until Lily put a kind arm on his shoulder – admittedly while biting back a smirk of her own – and directed him back up to his dormitory to change.

This meant that he missed the giving out of timetables by McGonagall, so James's best friend Lysander Scamander – who was in all of his classes anyway – had to give it to him later.

The rest of the day, on the other hand, passed busily and relatively quickly, everyone manic over the first day of school, so it was at dinner when those with friends from other years next saw each other.

"How was flying?" Albus, who was reaching for some chips, asked Hugo Weasley and Lily; who were both shoveling food down faster than was humanely possible. The fourth-years had had Flying Practice today, a lesson that Hugo loved and Lily hated with a vengeance.

"Excellent," Hugo answered.

"Horrible," Lily replied, glaring at her cousin.

Albus laughed, and the trio were soon joined by James and Lysander.

"Hi, everyone," said James as he sat down beside a gang of sixth-years. Lysander nodded at them all in greeting, preferring to keep himself to himself when possible. His nose turned red when Lily smiled at him, though, which luckily James failed to pick up on. "I saw Scorpius Malfoy today, we -" he gestured to himself and Lysander "- passed him on our way to Charms. Of course, I told him exactly where to stick that wand of his."

Albus and Hugo both rolled their eyes at James's idiocies - he was well known for still bearing a grudge against the Malfoy family, despite his friends' attempts to make him see reason. As far as the others were concerned, Scorpius was a nice, friendly Slytherin boy whose only fault was that he was born into an upper-class, ex-Death Eater family, which, at any rate, wasn't something he could control in the first place.

"He's not that bad," Lily said fearlessly, silently daring her eldest brother to contradict her. Everybody stared at her and Hugo Weasley's mouth twitched in amusement. "He's not, you know. Just because you are all prejudiced against Scorpius doesn't mean I am."

James shook his head wearily, words seeming to fail him, and the four boys struck up a conversation about the forthcoming Triwizard Tournament.

Lily zoned out of her friends' conversation and glanced at the Slytherin table wistfully, where Scorpius Malfoy sat, laughing with a fellow student. He glanced at Lily and smiled slightly; she blushed and looked away.


	2. October, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang

The rest of September passed without fault, save for a rather nasty incident that occurred in the Defence Against the Dark Arts corridor two weeks after the start of term feast. Fred and Roxanne, twin children of George and Angelina, were both Gryffindor seventh-years, friends of James and Lysander, and had been described by their teachers as 'worse than that Fred and George pair' when they began planning a ruthless prank together. The incident in question had involved an unpleasant third-year Slytherin being hit by a curse from Roxanne, and, while onlookers watched with delight, the third-year flew the length of the hallway and was blasted through the wall on the other side. It had taken a total of three Aurors, five Healers and fourteen staff members to repair the damage and set the boy right again.

Needless to say, the Weasley twins had been given detention; the respect they earned from their fellow students, however, was paramount. The twins were just short of being celebrities in Hogwarts - something that Fred loved and Roxanne hated (her reasoning being that it was a right pain not being able to go from class to class without being bombarded by worshipping first-years). Despite this, they still succeeded in upsetting at least three-quarters of the staff each year with their fabulous and inexplicably dangerous pranks and practical jokes.

James and Lysander, both of whom, what with being good friends with the twins, tended to be involved largely in each prank pulled, found the school year's first drama highly amusing. At least, James did. Lysander, on the other hand, was not impressed in the slightest when the headmistress personally called him out of Potions to interrogate him to see whether he knew anything about the event.

Their friend's slight annoyance did nothing to stop Fred and Roxanne - the pair had no qualms in beginning to plot their next great display; on the morning of the third of October they assured those around them that their plot was close to fruition.

"It had better not be," grumbled Hugo Weasley. Although being normally good-natured and friendly to his cousins, he had been the unfortunate victim of one too many practical jokes pulled by the twins over the four years he and Lily had been at Hogwarts. He was not looking forward to another. "I say, where's James? Isn't it his birthday today?"

Fred and Roxanne frowned and looked at each other. Lily, who was sitting beside Hugo eating cereal, raised an eyebrow.

"I think," began Fred, "we saw him, after he left the dormitory this morning, heading towards the library."

Lily spat out a mouthful of cornflakes.

"The _library_?" she gasped, as Hugo handed her a napkin and she wiped the table clean. "Since when did James go to the _library_?"

Fred waved a hand vaguely in the air. "He said something about seeing Rose Weasley. He'll probably be here soon."

Lily nodded her head slowly with dawning comprehension; the twins went back to shadily discussing their secret plans for their next prank.

A whole ten minutes passed before James Potter, along with Lysander, finally entered the Great Hall for breakfast. In this time Hugo had filled Lily in on the answers to their Astronomy homework - which the latter had conveniently 'forgotten' to do, and which was due tomorrow evening - and Fred and Roxanne had stolen ten salt-shakers and were moving them around the Gryffindor table with their wands, muttering darkly to each other as they sorted out blueprints and notes.

"Happy birthday, James!" Hugo said at once as James took a seat next to his sister, looking every part eighteen. His red hair was dramatically swept to the side as though he had finished running a race (though his cheeks were devoid of redness) and he stroked a hand over his chin as though checking for any stubble he may have missed when shaving. Lily gave him a large hug; Hugo procured a large parcel, which had _'Happy Birthday, Jaymz'_ scrawled across it in untidy handwriting, out of his rucksack; Fred and Roxanne murmured a hurried 'Hello' to Lysander and James before continuing to manoeuvre the salt-shakers around the table.

"This," said Hugo, referring to the present he gave James, "is from me and Rose," he informed his cousin, as the seventh-year ripped it open eagerly.

Inside laid a book. James groaned loudly, and Hugo blushed delicately. Lily and Lysander both laughed.

"This isn't just any book," Hugo, having noticed James's excitement had faded away, hopped up onto the table and pointed at the novel with pride. "This is a _Quidditch_ book!"

* * *

James was halfway into his new book by the time, three weeks later, when the delegations for the Triwizard Tournament arrived. He was surprised to find it was actually interesting. James tended not to read much; he preferred flying and messing around to any homework. Nevertheless, he had dived into _Quidditch Through The Ages _with a newfound eagerness that was uncommon of anyone but Rose herself.

The students of Hogwarts were at dinner that night, each on their respective house tables, when Professor McGonagall raised a hand for silence.

James, who hadn't said a word all through the meal, much to the annoyance of Lily and Lysander, who sat with him, put his book down and looked up with dazed interest.

"Well, what do you know," Lily said sarcastically. "James has put down his _book_."

James pulled a face at his sister; she stuck out a tongue in reply; Professor McGonagall coughed pointedly towards the Gryffindor table.

"Thank you, Miss Potter," she said dryly, her sharp eyes scanning the rest of the Great Hall expertly. "Without further ado – Mr Malfoy, _please stop that inane laughter_!"

All eyes turned to the Slytherin table, at which Scorpius Malfoy indeed sat. He had been attempting to produce the manic laughter that was usually created by villainous comic book characters, much to the delight of his peers. Professor McGonagall, however, was not amused.

"Without further ado," she repeated, keeping a close eye on the Slytherin side of the Great Hall, "I present to you Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, a school that has existed for over seven hundred years, and their Headmistress, Jacqueline Lejeune!"

The massive oak doors to the Great Hall opened with care, and about a dozen teenagers, male and female, walked in; all sporting the same pale blue silk uniform. Behind them, a tall, majestic looking woman followed. The Beauxbatons students were all classically beautiful, but there was one girl in particular who emitted a graceful radiance that was extremely rare.

"It's Dominique!" Lily hissed at her brothers and Lysander, all of whom had been staring at the girl with spellbound awe. Upon realising that she was, in fact, their cousin, James and Albus turned away. Lysander, on the other hand, bearing no relation whatsoever, continued staring at her.

He wasn't the only one: every other male student in the Great Hall had their eyes upon the girl called Dominique, who perched with her classmates on the Ravenclaw table as Madame Lejeune greeted McGonagall.

Dominique Weasley was the middle child of Fleur and Bill; and despite both her siblings attending Hogwarts she had preferred to go to her mother's old school, Beauxbatons Academy. She was quiet and studious, so whenever her cousins visited Shell Cottage for Christmas they didn't see much of her thin figure - she kept herself to herself when possible and was only really close to Rose, who was also what their cousins called a 'nerd'.

Victoire, the eldest sibling, had graduated from Hogwarts a few years previously; and Louis, the youngest, should have still been sitting at the Hufflepuff table had he not been expelled - along with Lorcan Scamander, Lysander's twin brother - for an incident involving a mandrake, a Muggle chainsaw, and a highly suspicious looking onion. He was sort of an idol to James and Lily, because despite his unconditional kindness he and Lorcan had been almost - almost being the operative word in that sentence - the best pranksters in Hogwarts; only losing out to two certain redheaded twins.

Professor McGonagall shook the hand of Madame Lejeune and directed her to sit down at the staff table; before straightening up and clearing her throat loudly.

"May I please have your attention?" she commanded, noticing the display Dominique Weasley's beauty was inadvertently causing. "Mr Scamander, if you do not stop watching the Ravenclaw table I will be forced to demand your departure from the Great Hall."

Lysander, who was normally a model student, blushed bright red as Lily and James laughed at him. The rest of the students shared a snigger or two at Lysander's expense, with the exception of the Beauxbatons teenagers, who stayed firmly facing the front.

"Please welcome our friends from the North," Professor McGonagall continued, once the Great Hall had quieted down, "Durmstrang Institute, and their Headmaster, Pyotr Vulchanov!"

The doors to the Great Hall opened again, this time with an unnecessarily loud bang, causing most students to jump violently. One Beauxbatons boy got such a shock he knocked over a flask of pumpkin juice, which promptly soaked his entire front.

"_Mon Dieu_!" he screamed, standing up and attempting to wipe his robes clean. Professor McGonagall and Madame Lejeune both glared at him.

"Is there a problem?" Pyotr Vulchanov asked icily, but nobody answered - instead, they were all taking in his rather frightening appearance. Vulchanov was thin and upright in stature; he had beady black eyes which radiated coldness. His smile was more of a sneer, revealing rows of sharp, pointed teeth, and his small grey goatee was neat and trimmed. The Durmstrang students all peered around him to see what was going on within the Great Hall.

Vulchanov snapped his fingers and the teenagers instantly straightened up; each wearing the same blood-red robes with heavy fur cloaks.

One Durmstrang girl's uniform was particularly shabby; she reminded the students of a young child who had been playing in the dirt all morning. Nevertheless, the other teenagers looked sharp and ruthless, as though they had prepared themselves for war.

They marched in, an orderly gang of red, and assembled themselves on the Slytherin table. Scorpius Malfoy glanced at them with fright and inched himself away slowly.

"Welcome," Professor McGonagall said warmly, holding her hand out for Pyotr Vulchanov to shake. He ignored it and sat down next to Madame Lejeune, examining the goblets and plates with a scornful expression on his bony face. Professor McGonagall looked very taken aback, but turned back to her students and guests to address them.

"To the Hogwartians," she called, "I hope you help our guests settle comfortably into the castle. They will be here for the duration of the Triwizard Tournament, and I would strongly suggest you graciously allow them to adjust their customs as they see fit. Rudeness, as we very well know -" here the headmistress gave a very pointed glare back at Pyotr Vulchanov, who was scowling at any student who caught his eye "- will not be tolerated at Hogwarts. And to our guests: welcome to Hogwarts!"

Professor McGonagall waved her hands for the students to briefly talk amongst themselves whilst she swept from the Hall with gusto and returned a few seconds later, hovering a large casket in front of her with her wand. The Great Hall fell silent of its own accord as each person closely watched the headmistress, who opened the casket and carefully withdrew a large cup.

"The Goblet of Fire," she explained, to general awe. "Any student of age who wishes to take part in the Tournament shall merely write their name on a scrap of parchment and place it in the goblet. Once your name enters the Goblet, you cannot go back - it is not a decision to make lightly. You have tonight, ladies and gentlemen, to enter the Triwizard Tournament."


	3. Well, THAT Was Unexpected

"We're going in for it," Roxanne Weasley said firmly, pointing between her and Fred, "and to hell with any age restriction."

The twins were sitting in the Transfiguration courtyard with their friends that evening, waiting for the Great Hall to empty slightly so James could put his name into the Goblet of Fire. Already, many students had either succeeded or tried to succeed in entering themselves for the Triwizard Tournament, some of them underage, including Scorpius Malfoy who, to James's delight, had failed completely at getting the Goblet to accept his entry and it had instead thrown him headfirst from the Great Hall with a well-aimed jet of blue fire. Scorpius was not the only underage student to have attempted to enter the Tournament: a few courageous looking first-years had asked an older Ravenclaw student to put their names in shortly after the feast; a Hufflepuff fifth-year called Mark had somehow coaxed his friends into taking an Ageing Potion, to generally amusing results - the whole group of them, Mark included, had been admitted to the Hospital Wing for serious facial hair disfigurements; Rose and Albus, on the other hand, had taken their Prefect duties to heart and had already confiscated a sizable amount of Ageing Potions, amulets and other magical substances that promised the user to turn of age at once.

"I thought you were already seventeen," Lily frowned, huddling next to James in the chill. In the distance they could see Rose scolding a timid second-year Slytherin, who had looked set to drink an entire bottle of Ageing Potion just a few seconds before.

Roxanne opened her mouth, clearly at a loss for words. Fred, however, beamed and hurriedly wrote his and his twin sister's names down on scraps of parchment he located after searching his pockets.

Lily turned to Lysander, who immediately blushed. "Are you entering?"

"Of course not," he said loftily, after having found his voice. "I have my NEWTs at the end of this year. I'm surprised James is entering, really, since he failed most of the mock exams we were given last year."

James glared at his best friend, his arm wrapping around Lily's shoulders, who had begun to shiver. He was, however, saved from retorting by a large group of Beauxbatons girls heading their way. Dominique Weasley was among them, and as she waved at her cousins Lysander's face turned even redder.

Lily turned considerably colder towards Lysander after this, and any attempt he made at conversing with her was shot down by a stony silence.

Puzzled by his best friend's sister's attitude towards him, Lysander was so distracted he almost entered himself for the Triwizard Tournament an hour later when they put in the others' names. Lily found this highly amusing, and Lysander was so grateful she had warmed to him again he didn't even mind when she told Hugo at great length about the spectacle he could have been in.

Instead, Lysander found himself actually pleased when Lily turned to him, smiling widely after laughing with Hugo, and held out her hand for him to take when they all made their way up to the common room.

"She's your _best friend's sister_," Fred Weasley hissed, once they had reached the Gryffindor common room and James had dragged Lily off to show her a secret passageway he had found. Roxanne had wandered over to a few of her seventh-year girl friends, which left Fred and Lysander standing by the Portrait Hole.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the latter said immediately, and Fred shook his head sadly. The two boys made their way over to the fire place, sitting down on a pair of armchairs in front of the fire.

Fred surveyed his friend expertly from underneath his long red fringe. "I don't think Jamie would be too impressed if you made a pass at his younger sister, who, by the way, is already interested in Malfoy."

Lysander gaped. Fred, looking as though he was quite enjoying the situation, motioned for his sister to join him.

"Roxanne, wouldn't you say Lysander -"

"- is pining after the one girl he can't have?" Roxanne finished her twin brother's sentence, eyeing Lysander up and down. "Yes, it's a little obvious."

Lysander glowered, turning away from the twins, who burst out laughing, and engaged Molly Weasley, a sixth-year Gryffindor, in conversation.

* * *

"And now, ladies, gentlemen, ghosts and guests, the moment you have all been waiting for!" Professor McGonagall raised her hands for silence, which immediately fell over the students. The Goblet of Fire had been standing ready in the Hall all morning, and now, as the enchanted sky began to twinkle with starry constellations, it was time for the three Triwizard champions to be chosen.

"The First Task will be held on November the 24th, and the chosen champions will not be allowed to accept help from any teachers," McGonagall informed the curious faces before her; as Madame Lejeune waved her wand and summoned the Goblet to the front of the Hall. "Thank you, Jacqueline."

She nodded at the Beauxbatons headmistress, who smiled politely and sat back down next to Pyotr Vulchanov. The Durmstrang headmaster had been neither seen nor heard from since the welcoming feast, something which many of the students, Hugo Weasley included, found highly suspicious.

There were many rumours flying around about Vulchanov, the most common of which being that he was not, actually, a Durmstrang teacher, rather he was, in fact, a Death Eater spy. Hugo scorned each and every one of these inane theories, but that had still not stopped him from spreading his own rumour regarding Pyotr Vulchanov's strange eating habits (the head of Durmstrang had seemed particularly fond of fried pidgeon at the welcoming feast and had shunned any offer of dessert, an action that earned many scathing looks from sweet-toothed students and Hogwarts teachers).

"Look!" A tall Hufflepuff boy pointed to the Goblet's flame excitedly, which was glowing a deep red. It spouted sparks for a moment, and then spat out a singular piece of parchment into the Headmistress's awaiting hand.

"Thank you, Jackerby." The Huflepuff boy flushed as he was singled out by McGonagall, who was fingering the parchment delicately. After she had reprimanded the boy, she eyed the piece of parchment over the top of her glasses. "The champion for Durmstrang," she squinted slightly, trying to read the heavily slanted writing, "is Frederick Poliakoff!"

"YES!" Pyotr Vulchanov punched the air and grinned a wicked grin. Madame Lejeune stared at him.

"NO!" The Durmstrang boy named Frederick Poliakoff wailed, looking daggers at his headmaster from the other end of the Great Hall. Frederick Poliakoff was a rather burly boy, with thickset shoulders and quite bushy eyebrows. He slowly made his way down to the front of the Hall, and was redirected by Madame Lejeune into a smaller chamber just off the Great Hall, in which all of the newly chosen champions would end up.

Not all of the Durmstrang students were taking this revelation as well as Pyotr Vulchanov was. Most students were yelling at Frederick's retreating back, cursing and complaining, which probably didn't help the new champion's nerves one bit.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," Professor McGonagall paused as the Goblet spewed red fire once more, and the Durmstrang students were hastily shushed by those around them, "is Dominique Weasley!"

"No surprises there," Lily Potter muttered bitterly, as all around her boys got on to their feet and applauded loudly. "Oh for goodness's sake, Lysander, sit _down_."

Dominique shook hands with her fellow Beauxbatons friends and a few of the Ravenclaws, Rose Weasley included, before walking up to Professor McGonagall with pride, ignoring the wolf-whistles with a well-practised and dignified grace. Madame Lejeune beamed at her; subconsciously Dominique made the same path Frederick had made into the smaller chamber.

The students took a bit longer to be silent this time; eventually, McGonagall put a stop to most of the noise by giving the wolf-whistling boys her sternest look.

"The champion for Hogwarts ..." she began, bringing attention back to the matter at hand as the Goblet of Fire turned scarlet for the last time; sparks showered out from it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip she pulled the third and final piece of parchment.

A hush settled over the Great Hall.

"The champion for Hogwarts," the headmistress repeated, "is James Potter!"

"What did she say?" James turned to his brother Albus with shock.

"You're the champion for Hogwarts, you blithering idiot." Albus rolled his eyes and tried not to smile as Lily shrieked and the Weasley twins began a wave of applause.

James found himself being shunted towards a large group of screaming girls by a smirking Lysander before being ambushed by the rest of the students. The rest of his journey to the front of the Great Hall turned into a blur; all he could remember was a voice yelling in his ear about how his father, too, had become Hogwarts champion ...

* * *

"And then she said, 'Courage in the face of the unknown is a very important quality' and left it at that," James shrugged casually, having just finished informing his surprisingly vast amount of admirers what had gone on in the chamber off the side of the Great Hall.

Fred and Roxanne sighed identical sighs.

"If it wasn't us –" Roxanne started sadly.

"– at least it was you," Fred finished, stretching out happily on the armchair he was occupying. Lily and Lysander were sitting at the twins' feet; Albus and Hugo were watching proudly from the side-lines.

"All you really have to do," Lily piped up, "is hang out until the 24th of November. If McGonagall mentioned courage 'in the face of the unknown' then surely you don't have to work out what the first task is ..."

James stared at her, aghast. His many admirers were wandering away; savouring the peace, he took a seat next to his friends.

"I can't do that," he said. "Blimey, I'm exhausted. It's so much effort being popular."

Lily giggled, but her mood changed abruptly when James announced that he had to go to the library. He was supposed to be meeting Rose, he explained, to go over what could possibly come up in the first task. That was why he couldn't, as Lily had fondly put it, 'hang out' until the end of November - he needed to be prepared; he needed to know what on earth he was going to be facing. And for that, he required the cleverest girl he knew, Rose Weasley.

The entirety of the Gryffindor common room stared after him as he hurried away.

"Oh ..." Fred breathed.

"My ..." Roxanne shook her head cynically.

"Voldemort," Lysander looked rather sad, the thought of his best friend turning into a male version of Rose being just too much to cope with. Lily put her hand over his comfortingly and reassured him kindly that their best friend would be all right, not really believing her words herself.

* * *

"And you're _sure_ Professor McGonagall gave you no other hints whatsoever about what you would be facing in the first task?" Rose questioned James sceptically, as the pair sat in the library, immersed in old, faded books. The sight of James Potter sitting in the library was so unusual to their fellow students that one girl had even taken a photograph, and had promised that it would be circuiting Hogwarts by the following morning. Rose had found this highly amusing, despite James's bitter - and shockingly rude - reply to the girl.

James shook his head, turning a page in an old encyclopedia and reading the small printed text.

"Luckily," Rose said, capturing his attention with that one word; as he looked up at her, James's glasses slid halfway down his nose, "I'm prepared for every occasion."

She leaned down into her ridiculously large rucksack and pulled out an even larger book.

"I got this out a few weeks ago for some background reading," Rose told her cousin happily. "It explains all about previous Tournaments in here; you might want to borrow it. It's a fascinating read and I bet it will come in handy."

She handed James the heavy book, as though there was nothing better to do than sit around reading all night and day for fun. Of course, in Rose's opinion, there wasn't.

* * *

"What in the name of Dumbledore is he doing with his life?" Hugo Weasley whispered to Albus, as James returned to the common room later that evening, nose deep in the large book Rose had lent him.

"It's your sister," Albus shook his head seriously. "She's a bad influence."

Hugo snorted. Never before had he heard anyone call Rose Weasley a bad influence. If anything, it was the other way around - James loved to cause mischief and was a lot like his namesake and grandfather in terms of characteristics.

"I don't like it," Albus then said darkly, and Hugo murmured his agreement. "I don't like it at all."


	4. Girl Talk, Potions and Sectumsempra

"Lily, I don't understand what you zee een 'im," Dominique Weasley whispered to her younger cousin, as they both descended the Grand Staircase out into the courtyard. Lily had refrained herself with a dignified silence ever since she and the newly appointed Beauxbatons champion had accidentally 'ran into each other' ten minutes into the start of lunch, but the redhead had a sneaky suspicion Dominique had been waiting a good long while for this moment, to be able to talk to her cousin about something that was clearly bothering her.

"See in _whom_?" Lily finally said, and immediately regretted it as Dominique gave a huff and looked haughty.

"Scorpius Malfoy," the Beauxbatons champion hissed, tossing her silvery-blonde sheet of hair over her shoulder and looking at her younger cousin with disdain. Lily glanced around her, half expecting to see Scorpius right behind them, but the courtyard was empty, save for a crowd of Durmstrang boys who were jeering after them.

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Eet eez obvious you 'ave affection for 'im," said Dominique airily, and Lily gave a very good imitation of her cousin by throwing her own short red hair out of her face.

"I hardly think that is any of your business," she snapped, quickening her pace in hopes of ending the conversation sooner once she realised what the Beauxbatons girl was talking about. "Moreover, I don't even like Malfoy."

"Oh, is zat so?"

Lily nodded, stalking ahead, so intent on reaching the other side of the courtyard she almost missed what Dominique said next.

"You can talk to me, Leely," Dominique said softly, and Lily gave an involuntary shudder at the incorrect French pronunciation of her name. "I know zat you do not like your male friends paying attention to me, but you 'ave to understand zat neizzer do I. I don't want any of zis," she gestured to herself. "All I want eez to make _maman_ proud; for once to be ze interesting one."

Lily stared at her from behind her glasses, something all three Potter siblings wore, and waited for her cousin to continue.

"Eet eez all right for Louis and Victoire, both of zem 'ave always been popular, but not me." Dominique heaved a sigh, her pale face overcast. "I know I 'ave friends at Beauxbatons Academy; but zat cannot be said for my cousins. No one, even in my loose family, likes me over Victoire and Louis apart from Rose."

"Yes, they do!" Lily argued, feeling a rush of compassion for the now miserable looking Dominique. The latter looked at her with empty curiosity, her grey eyes troubled. It was clear that this had been upsetting Dominique for a long time, and Lily being distant towards her had only made matters worse. "Listen, forget what your siblings are like; you're obviously good enough to be chosen for the Triwizard Tournament, and I bet you anything Louis or Victoire wouldn't have even had the guts to enter."

Dominique gave a slight smile, the corners of her perfect mouth turning up.

"_Merci_, Leely, zat was very nice of you to say."

"Yeah, well," Lily said, trying to refrain from grinning, "let's not make a habit of it, shall we?"

* * *

"Holy Voldemort," Albus Potter slapped a hand to his face as the two girls re-entered the castle, walking past him without a second glance, both of them giggling and discussing a certain Slytherin boy. "Once you thought it couldn't get any worse, it did."

Helena Davies, Rose's best friend, was standing alone a few metres away, examining a portrait that James had long ago donned a blocked secret entrance into the kitchens. She was close enough to overhear what Albus had said out loud to himself, and turned and beamed at him.

Blushing, but feeling very proud of what he had just accomplished, Albus followed his sister's steps out of the corridor, hoping that if he reached the common room before she did he would be able to talk to Hugo in peace, without any immature interruptions from James or Lily, about what had just occurred between him and Helena Davies.

* * *

"Once the shredded beetle eyes have been added ..."

Lysander Scamander shook himself out of a daydream he was in, which involved the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, James's copy of _Quidditch Through the Ages_ and a lot more Lily than he would ever admit to. The seventh-years were sitting in Potions, and Professor Vince, the Potions teacher, had been calling them all up in turn to give a potion making demonstration that she promised would come in handy for the upcoming NEWT examination in June. James, who normally sat next to Lysander, had vanished. This startled him for a moment, before Lysander realised that James was the one giving the demonstration at the front of the classroom.

Lysander looked around for the Weasley twins, who had evaded being called upon by the teacher for forty whole minutes by sitting in their usual position at the back of the dungeon and sinking as low as possible on their seats, so that only their shocks of red hair were visible above the table. Fred Weasley, peering around his cauldron to see whether Professor Vince had noticed their disappearance, noticed Lysander looking at him and pulled a face, his brown eyes laughing.

"Mr Scamander, can I please ask what is so interesting that it's taken your attention away from my demonstration?" James, from the front of the classroom, stared at his best friend sternly over the rims of his glasses. His red hair was plastered to his face from the heat coming from his cauldron, but he seemed pleased with himself that the demonstration had not, thus far, been a disaster. It seemed as though he also shared his little sister's knack for potion making, if the characteristic spirals of smoke that were coming out of his cauldron was anything to go by. At the back of the room the twins erupted into very audible laughter.

"I don't know whether you _can_," Lysander replied coolly, turning back to face the front, not at all fazed by James's act, "but you _may_."

He got a week's detention, but it was worth it.

"Wow," Lily remarked later, as the students all ate dinner in the Great Hall. James was sitting a few feet away examining his ashen reflection on the back of a dinner spoon (as soon as he had rebuked Lysander his potion had exploded, showering the seventh-years with copious amounts of Amortentia, the most powerful Love Potion in the world. Thanks to Professor Vince's quick thinking and actions, the effects had vanished almost as quickly as they had appeared, though that had not stopped half of the class declaring their undying love for James Potter. He still had lipstick marks on his face from where one Slytherin girl had kissed him.) "A week's detention? Lysander, for you, that's like being sent to _Azkaban_."

Lysander shrugged modestly, tucking into the tomato salad he was eating but being inwardly torn between pleasure that Lily was amazed and confusion that she seemed to regard him as completely innocent.

"I'm proud of you, Ly," Lily then said, patting his shoulder and unknowingly causing a swooping sensation in his stomach. Flushed, Lysander finished the rest of his tomato salad in silence, only looking up when James joined them, his face now clean from having freshened it up by using the spoon's reflective surface to help.

* * *

It was two am in the morning, but Hugo Weasley was not in his bed. He was not, even, in his dormitory, least of all the Gryffindor common room. Instead, he was racing down the seventh floor corridor towards the Ravenclaw tower, intent on only one thing.

"Rosie!" he cried, barging his way into the Ravenclaw common room and sprinting up the staircase to the girls' dormitory. Throwing open the door, he bounded over to his sister's bed and jumped on top of her sleeping figure. "Rose, come quick!"

Rose turned in her sleep, mumbling something incoherent about Transfiguration. Hugo shook her shoulder and bent down to her ear.

"Rosie!" he yelled, and his sister gave such a start she pushed him right off her bed and onto the floor. Rose surveyed him with slight confusion; her little brother in the Ravenclaw girls' dormitory being such an odd sight that she forgot to help him back to his feet. That didn't stop Hugo, however: he scrambled up and dragged Rose out of her bed by the hand. Pausing only to grab a blue dressing gown that was hanging by the door, Hugo pulled his sister out of the dormitory and Ravenclaw common room and down the seventh floor corridor.

"Hugh," Rose started, putting on the dressing gown that Hugo had taken and eyeing her brother blearily, "what on earth is going on?"

Hugo didn't explain, just shook his head and quickened his pace. They were almost at the Gryffindor common room by now, and had it not been for Rose throwing out an arm to stop her brother, they would have already been inside.

Realising that Rose wasn't about to go any further without a valid explanation for their night time emergency wanderings, Hugo succumbed into telling her exactly why he had sought out her presence in the first place.

"So let me get this straight," said Rose a few moments later, "_Scorpius Malfoy_ broke into the Gryffindor common room and tried to hex James while he slept?"

Hugo nodded, rubbing his blue eyes with his long fingers and yawning. "Then they began to duel, yes, and now James is lying injured on the floor in the common room," he finished for his sister. "Now, can we get a move on?"

He gave the password for the Gryffindor common room distractedly and swung through the portrait hole with remarkable agility and grace. After a moment's hesitation Rose followed, after carefully checking behind her to see if any teachers or ghosts were patrolling the corridor.

She could see at once her younger brother's story was – relatively – true. A crowd of Gryffindors were grouped in a mass by the portrait hole, and as she pushed through them they turned to look at her with brief interest before turning back to the scene in front of them. From where Rose stood she could see Lily and Lysander's white faces, both of them standing together by the staircase, Lysander's arm around Lily's small shoulders; Albus's shocked expression as he stared, dumbstruck, at something beyond Rose's eyesight; and Fred and Roxanne's unusually pensive frowns. In front of the twins, Rose could see, as she pushed through a group of second-years, stood Scorpius Malfoy, wand in hand, staring at the ground where James lay, unmoving, an empty expression on his face.

"Is he ... _dead_?" a first-year boy whispered as the crowd followed Rose closer to James. Nobody answered; instead, Molly Weasley - who was nearest - knelt down at James's side and searched for a pulse, her face tense.

There was silence as Molly's curly red hair obscured her expression; after a long, heart-stopping moment she stood, a trace of a smile on her freckled face.

"He's fine," she said, to general applause and whooping.

Hugo laughed out loud with relief from behind Rose, but she didn't hear him. Instead she turned, seething, to face Scorpius Malfoy. She didn't think, didn't even consider what she was going to do.

Grabbing her brother's wand, which was poking out of his sleeve as his hand rested on her shoulder, she pointed it at Scorpius and cried, "SECTUMSEMPRA!"

As usual, it was an unbelievably good shot. Blood splattered everywhere as deep gashes appeared in Scorpius Malfoy's chest and cut open his shirt. His pale, pointed face was devoid of emotion as he collapsed beside James; the sight would have been comical had it not been for a few girls' screams, the most frightening of which came from a little redhead that stood by the dormitory staircase, who was being restrained by a quick-thinking individual.

"How dare you!" Lily yelled, struggling against Lysander's vice-like grip and itching to get to Rose. "Lysander - get off - I am perfectly capable -"

The last thing Rose saw, before she turned away to go back to the Ravenclaw common room, was her younger cousin's hazel eyes, full of unforgiving blame.

* * *

Most of those belonging to Gryffindor house were being considerably nicer and more appreciative to Rose Weasley since she cursed Scorpius Malfoy late at night; but the downside was that Lily now refused to speak to anyone even vaguely involved in the incident, including innocent bystanders like Molly Weasley. This meant that she was spending an inordinate amount of time with Beauxbatons girls since she classed almost every single person in Hogwarts to be partially to blame for Scorpius Malfoy's injury. Hugo, who wanted to keep the peace and be friends with everyone, was forced to act as a go-between.

"This is getting ridiculous," he complained loudly, as he sat with Lily and Dominique Weasley in the Great Hall one Wednesday lunchtime. James, who Lily was normally on the best of terms with, was also cold-shouldering his sister for taking Scorpius's side; Lysander, on the other hand, had tried to patch things up between them but had failed miserably. It seemed impossible that the two siblings would ever speak again.

Lily and Rose, however, had settled their differences immediately one morning after a mysterious walk in the grounds, which they returned from, beaming, to tell a bemused Hugo Weasley that they were friends again. Sadly the same could not be said for James, who was as stubborn as he was courageous and was not likely to step down and apologise first.

Lily shrugged, staring down at her empty plate miserably. She had begun to shun food since the duel between Scorpius and James, and Hugo suspected that it was down to the latter avoiding her.

Dominique, who was fully aware of the tension between Lily and James, laid a comforting hand on her cousin's arm and pushed a dish of beans towards her.

"You 'ave to eat, Leely," she said, casting her pale eyes around the Great Hall distractedly. "If you do not you will only bring yourself more upset."

Hugo nodded pompously, nudging Lily's new dish of beans with his finger and handing his cousin a fork. Lily said nothing but thankfully took it from him.

The next few seconds passed in silence as Lily ate and the other two watched her.

"I say," Hugo said suddenly, catching sight of the grand oak doors that opened out to the Entrance Hall. "Isn't that James?"

The two girls followed his gaze, Lily quite unwillingly, only to see a furious James Potter storming into the Great Hall, his glasses lopsided and the top button of his shirt undone. Behind him was Lysander, who was having to do an odd sort of jog to keep up with his best friend as James rushed to where Lily, Hugo and Dominique all sat.

"Oh my," the Beauxbatons champion murmured worriedly, as James's angry figure came closer. Lysander shot them all an apologetic look before escaping to sit next to a gang of fifth-years.

"Right," James snarled, slamming a fist down onto the table in front of his sister so hard that the beans that were left in Lily's dish jumped violently and fell onto the table. "This has gone on long enough."

Hugo's blue eyes were the size of dinner plates as he watched the two siblings glare at each other; Dominique, on the other hand, had whimpered slightly when James had hit the table and promptly left to join Lysander and the fifth-years.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Lily calmly. Hugo was quite impressed with how she was handling the situation. "Excuse me, I'm trying to have my lunch here."

James sneered. "You ignore me for weeks and _you_ _don't know what I'm talking about_?"

Lily shrugged, her cheeks pink.

"Correct," she said casually, looking up at Hugo for a second. "Hugh, could you pass me a napkin, please?"

James banged his hand down onto the table again and swore loudly. He was making quite a scene - a group of Hufflepuff girls had edged closer and were now standing a few feet away watching the drama unfold; small first-year Slytherins were even standing up on their house table to get a better view. The Weasley twins were viewing the display with delight; Lysander was trying to make himself invisible as Hugo also fled to join him.

"Furthermore," Lily continued lightly, as though her eldest brother had not just disrupted her meal, "you're the one who's been ignoring me. Had I not stuck up for Scorpius -"

"What is going on here?" an authoritative voice called, and Albus appeared, pushing his way through the Hufflepuffs to reach his siblings. "Excuse me, I'm a Prefect!"

Both Lily and James groaned.

"I see," Albus said at once as he caught sight of James's furious expression and Lily's calm demeanour. "This is about what happened in the common room the other night with Scorpius and Rose."

"Stay out of it, punk," James growled. Albus raised his eyebrows but did, thankfully, stay out of it; Lily snorted with dire amusement. "I don't know what you're smirking at, sister."

"Right!" Lily shrieked, losing her temper at last and getting to her feet. She was a foot smaller than her brother but she still looked mighty dangerous as she glared at James. "That is it! I've had it up to _here_ with your bigheadedness; if I'm supposed to be your sister then do - not - ignore - _me_!"

She jabbed James hard in the chest with every word. James narrowed his hazel eyes that were so like hers and took a step backwards, out of his sister's reach.

"You're the one who's been ignoring me," he swallowed, "so don't blame me for your mistakes. In case you've forgotten, Scorpius cursed me first!"

"That's ridiculous, James, and you know it," Lily snapped angrily. "He wouldn't curse you for no good reason; it's your fault, you've been baiting him for the past five years of his life. So save the excuses for someone who actually wants to hear them."

James spluttered, lost for words. Lily pulled a face at him before flouncing out of the Great Hall and slamming the oak doors shut as hard as she could behind her.

There was a hushed silence; nobody dared to even breathe.

James's face was a picture. Albus was staring firmly at the ceiling; the Weasley twins avoided each other's' eyes for fear of bursting out into laughter and Hugo hurriedly struck up a conversation with Lysander about the 700 possible Quidditch fouls, all of which occurred in the 1473 Quidditch World Cup. It was only when he was discussing at great length the foul that involved the Transylvanian Captain releasing no less than one hundred vampire bats from under his robe when it dawned on him that Lysander Scamander could not play Quidditch to save his life.


	5. An Old Friend

"Mr Potter, can you come over here, please?" Professor McGonagall asked loudly from across the Great Hall, a few days before the first task. James, who was playing wizards' chess with the Weasley twins and Lysander on the Gryffindor table, looked up at the headmistress before reluctantly standing and, after bidding his friends farewell, somehow missing out Lily, following the headmistress out of the Great Hall.

Professor McGonagall made no effort to speak to James as the unlikely pair climbed the staircase to the third floor, something that he was thankful for. He felt that if forced to speak to him, the headmistress would only reprimand him for every numerous rule he had broken over the six and a half years he had been at Hogwarts.

Upon reaching the third floor corridor, James's mind started to wander to breakfast. He could be sitting in the Great Hall right at this second, ogling Beauxbatons girls and playing wizards' chess with his friends. Plus, he was hungry. He'd only managed to shovel down a full plate of bacon and eggs before the Weasley twins had arrived, and a growing boy like him, he thought, needed his nutrition.

Sighing, James followed Professor McGonagall into a small room that he recognised as his old Charms classroom. An image of him inadvertently causing one of the benches to explode in his second-year flashed across his mind before he glanced around at the classroom's current occupants.

Madame Lejeune was standing by the blackboard, trying and failing to make conversation with Pyotr Vulchanov, who was cleaning out his fingernails with the end of a long quill, firmly ignoring her. Dominique was sitting at a desk in the corner, reading a book in french, and her pale eyes darted from side to side as she turned pages and devoured the content; and Frederick Poliakoff was lying, apparently asleep, over a pair of double desks in the middle of the classroom, his bushy eyebrows obscuring half of his face.

Professor McGonagall left James's side, walked over to the blackboard and murmured a few words to the heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. James took a seat next to Dominique, reading the title of her book (_Les Fleurs du Mal_ _by Charles Baudelaire_) and tapping his fingers absent-mindedly on the desk. After a stern look from Dominique he ceased the tapping and instead studied the three heads of schools intently, trying to lip read what they were saying. They seemed to be talking about wands.

Jacqueline Lejeune cleared her throat and Dominique put her book down. "Champions, eet eez time for your wands to be exameened to ensure zey are all in working order. Eef you would 'ang on for a second I shall go and locate zee wandmaker."

She left the room with a swish of her robes; Pyotr Vulchanov went back to cleaning under his fingernails. After throwing him a disgusted look, Professor McGonagall took it upon herself to wake Frederick Poliakoff, only succeeding with the help from Dominique, who whacked the Durmstrang champion over the head with her novel.

Spluttering, but nonetheless very much awake, Poliakoff rubbed his eyes with his large hands just as Madame Lejeune returned with a youngish looking man, who had dark hair that was cut short to emphasise his chiselled features. The three champions surveyed him curiously.

"This is Mr Thomas," Professor McGonagall started, gesturing politely to the man, who had an uncanny ability of staring deeply at the person he was about to talk to. "He will be examining your -"

"But please call me Dean," Mr Thomas butted in, and was quelled into silence by the look McGonagall fired him.

"- examining your wands," the headmistress finished. Pyotr Vulchanov yawned pointedly.

"Yes, without further ado, then?" said Mr Thomas after clearly hearing Vulchanov's yawn and looking quite embarrassed. The wandmaker turned to Dominique, who watched him apprehensively. "Your wand, please, Miss Weasley."

Dominique gave a start and reached into her skirt pocket for her wand. She handed it to Mr Thomas who eyed it closely and flexed it slightly.

"I remember this one," he chortled. "Yes, I remember it well."

James's stomach rumbled. Dominique scowled at him.

"12 inches, hair of Veela; rather bendy yet surprisingly tough," said Mr Thomas, examining Dominique's wand. "It used to be your sister's, did it not? Very good condition for an old wand; excellent for Charm work."

Dominique waited while the wandmaker waved her wand; Mr Thomas muttered an incantation and a platter of cakes sprung out of the end. The wandmaker beamed and gave Dominique both her wand back and the dish of pastries.

The Beauxbatons champion handed James the tray of cakes, who was so hungry he thought he might pass out from the pain. He said his gratitude and tucked in at once.

"Mr Poliakoff?" Mr Thomas then said. Pyotr Vulchanov stood a little straighter and eyed his student coldly, who stumbled towards the front of the classroom and produced his wand. "Thestral hair, which is rather unusual, I must say. I did not make this one, but it uses elm and it is well made, very firm. 9 inches, which is oddly short."

Mr Thomas gave Frederick Poliakoff's wand a slight wave and out flew green sparks, which narrowly missed Professor McGonagall's left cheek. Slightly abashed, the wandmaker handed the wand back to Poliakoff with a slight flourish and nudged the Durmstrang champion back towards his seat.

A moment of silence followed when Mr Thomas rocked back and forth on his heels as he stared at James.

"Ah, Mr Potter," he said with satisfaction. James put down the cake he was in the middle of eating and looked up. "_Mr Potter_. I wondered when I'd be meeting you ... well, don't just sit there, boy! Give me your worst!"

James took this as an invitation to give Mr Thomas his wand.

"11 and a half inches, oak, dragon heartstring?" asked the wandmaker, holding James's wand carefully in his hands. "Rather amazing Transfiguration results; quite firm and reliable. Average condition - I recommend you take better care of your wand, Mr Potter. The 'Weasley Wand Kit' gives beautiful results. Say my name and you get a discount!"

After waving James's wand in the air and causing an inkwell to explode, Mr Thomas returned the Hogwarts champion's wand, elaborately bowed to the three heads of schools in turn and dramatically strode from the room.


	6. The First Task

Loud band music; a buzz in the crowds as students attempted to find their seats; the occasional shout as a stray foot was trodden on; adrenaline in the air…today was the day of the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, and most students were excited.

James Potter, on the other hand, was pacing anxiously around the large, spacious tent the three champions were waiting in. They had been in the tent for just over ten minutes and had been forced to listen to the distant rumbling of noise as the other students found their seats, all looking forward to seeing what the first task involved. James, right then, would have happily given anything to be on the other side of the tent with them, sitting next to Lysander and Rose and jeering as the other Hogwarts champion battled an unknown monster. But unfortunately he had made the foolish decision to enter his wretched name for the Tournament, something he was now heavily regretting.

At least he had the book Rose had given him a month ago about previous Triwizard Tournaments, though what use would it be now? It was miles away, resting at the bottom of his suitcase in the seventh-year boys' dormitory. No, James was in this alone. That thought did nothing to quell his nerves.

Dominique Weasley was sitting down on a bench at the side of the tent, twirling her wand nervously around her thin fingers. She had not spoken a word to either of the other champions upon her arrival into their tent and James rather thought he saw a worried frown etched into her proud face; Frederick Poliakoff, though, was standing near the entrance, a very nasty shade of green.

The tent flaps opened and the three heads of schools entered, followed by two middle-aged men. Dominique's face turned a ghostly white; Poliakoff promptly threw up into an awaiting bucket.

"Champions, I'd like to introduce the Head of Magical Cooperation, Robert Einaudi," said Professor McGonagall, sweeping a hand in the direction of the first man, who nodded stiffly at the champions. He wore a lime green pinstriped suit with a bright orange hat that hid most of his black, neatly parted hair. Apparently, none of the other adults found his interesting choice of fashion quite so unusual as much as James did - the Hogwarts champion had to bite hard on his lower lip to keep from laughing. Dominique raised her eyebrows at him and the desire to laugh stopped as quickly as it had started.

James rearranged his face so that it was suitable for a funeral and waited for McGonagall to introduce the other man. Instead, Robert Einaudi began speaking, clearly feeling that his companion needed no introduction.

"Now, champions, this is it. The one you have all been waiting for - the first task of the Triwizard Tournament." Robert Einaudi clapped his hands together and beamed. James sat down faintly next to Dominique and Frederick Poliakoff vomited again. "It is a very _dangerous_ task, hear you me, so a team of trained medics will be waiting in the wings with a flock of phoenix ... no pun intended, of course."

Robert Einaudi grinned to himself about what he evidently thought was a witty pun; Pyotr Vulchanov narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest impatiently.

"Do you get it - wings, phoenix ... no?" Robert Einaudi looked quite disappointed. The other man with him, who was tall, athletic-looking and very handsome, took over.

"I'm Mr Wood," he said, his chestnut brown hair shining from the rays of sunlight that escaped into the tent from the open flaps, "the Head of Magical Games and Sports. Hello, James."

James felt quite taken aback to be addressed personally by this complete stranger; he looked at Professor McGonagall for guidance but she was staring firmly at the opposite side of the tent.

"Get on with it, Oliver," she said through gritted teeth, and Mr Wood bounced up and down slightly, staring from one champion to another in turn.

"Right you are, Minerva. As you may or may not already know," Mr Wood began, his voice now business-like and his expression authoritative, "a basilisk's stare instantly kills those in its path, as does, of course, basilisk venom. For this reason the basilisk you will be battling is going to be completely blind; your job is to collect the golden fang that, er, still resides in its mouth."

A stunned silence greeted these words. Dominique looked close to fainting now; even James was beginning to feel a bit woozy.

"And 'ow, may I ask, do you propose we do zat?" the former whispered, not at all looking as composed as she usually did.

Pyotr Vulchanov smirked unpleasantly. "That's for you to find out, isn't it?"

* * *

The Weasley twins bustled down a row of waiting students, having spent the last hour taking bets on who was most likely to pass the first task. Accidentally squashing a Hufflepuff fifth-year called Mark with her bag, Roxanne finally reached the end of the row and began walking up the steps of the stadium. Their friends, she knew, were waiting at the top.

"Come on, it's starting," Lysander hissed as the twins reached him, and they took the seats that had been saved for them just as the crowd gave a raucous cheer and a small figure entered the grassy arena down below.

"It's Poliakoff!" Fred yelled, passing his sister binoculars and pressing his own pair to his brown eyes. Zooming in rapidly to focus on the Durmstrang champion, the two twins could just about make out the Durmstrang emblem on Poliakoff's robes before a massive tail appeared out of nowhere and knocked Frederick aside as easily as if he had been made of paper.

"Ooh, that's got to have hurt," Lysander groaned from where he was sitting, as the tail came flying down again on Poliakoff's still figure and hit him directly in his face. "Why doesn't he _move_?"

"Doesn't look like he can," replied Fred casually, zooming out slightly so he could get a better view of the full arena. The basilisk was circling Poliakoff's still body, hissing and spewing venom everywhere within a ten foot radius. As the spectators watched, a group of muscular wizards and Healers ran onto the scene, their arms over their heads to ensure their safety as they raced towards the unmoving Durmstrang champion.

"Knew we should have raised the odds for him," Roxanne muttered, as the wizards Stunned the basilisk and the Healers carried Frederick Poliakoff's body out of the arena on a stretcher. "Well, at least James is in with a better chance."

How wrong she was.

* * *

"All in all, not exactly the best task, then?" Roxanne asked James later, grinning widely. The Weasley twins were visiting James in the hospital wing following a quintessentially horrific first task. The other two champions who followed Frederick Poliakoff had, at least, obtained the golden fang - James had spontaneously decided, ten seconds in, to just go for it and had stuck his hand right into the basilisk's open mouth. He had, to general relief, been told that his arm will have grown back by the morning. Dominique, on the other hand, had outperformed all competition and had escaped the basilisk with hardly a mark on her, which gave the Beauxbatons students something to be happy about.

Pyotr Vulchanov, however, following his student's unmitigated disaster in the first task, was in such a foul mood as he stormed through the castle that many students had taken to performing Sensory Charms before turning corners just in case the Durmstrang Headmaster was about to come swooping down on them and make their lives a misery.

"Ah, leave him alone, sis," Fred grinned at his twin sister before ruffling James's hair playfully. James, having only one arm, could do nothing to fend off the attack other than to fire verbal abuse at Fred that would most certainly have earned him a month's detention had Professor McGonagall been in the vicinity. "Oh, look, here's Lysander."

Lysander, who had just entered the hospital wing carrying a stack of books, dropped his load beside Dominique's bed ("Just in case!" the matron had said when she insisted that Dominique rest in the hospital wing at least over night, much to the Beauxbatons champion's displeasure). Dominique murmured her thanks as Lysander then joined the twins at James's bedside.

"How's it going?" Lysander asked, staring at his best friend. James glared at him.

"I'm one-armed, how do you think it's going?"

The twins sniggered.

"All right, I was only asking," said Lysander, exchanging a glance with Fred and Roxanne.

James propped himself up with his remaining elbow and glanced around the hospital wing, seemingly confused. Lysander asked him what was wrong.

"Where's Albus, or Rose and Hugo? How come they're not concerned with my painful recovery?"

Lysander and the twins shared a look of foreboding; feeling as though he was missing something, James frowned.

"Listen, James," Roxanne began, sitting up a little straighter. "Al and Rose are hanging out with Lily; they came in before to see you but you were asleep."

"And by 'they' ..." said James, but was cut off by a loud bang as the doors to the hospital wing flew open.

"Dominique, are you awake?" Lily entered the hospital wing, looking flustered and windswept. "It's a nightmare out there, my Potions essay –"

But what exactly happened to Lily's Potions essay was never made clear, because as soon as she caught sight of James and his friends she stopped short and for a moment looked like a rabbit caught in bright headlights. Dominique, from the other end of the wing, stared between Lily and James with trepidation.

"Hello," said Lysander pleasantly, one of the few who did not bear a grudge against his friend's sister.

Lily paused for a moment, as her face went from red to white to a rather, in Lysander's personal opinion, attractive shade of pink. The only noise was from Frederick Poliakoff, who appeared to have (unfortunately) survived the first task, as he rolled in his sleep and shouted something about lime green suits.

But as Lily turned around, walking back through the doors without another word or a single glance back at her friends, Lysander hastily gathered his things together, stood up, and raced to catch up with her, ignoring James's loud protests about being 'abandoned in his time of need'.

"Lily –" he panted, clutching a stitch in his side as he left the hospital wing and stood in the corridor outside. Lily paused, turning back to face him. "–wait, please."

Once his breath was caught, he pulled his best friend's sister into such a tight hug that after a minute or two it left her gasping for air. Lysander released her, a strange look on his face, and without saying another word he turned and re-entered the hospital wing, ready to face James's undoubtedly fierce inquisition as to why he just did what he did.


	7. The Only Gryffindor Without A Date

After the horrendous first task, James Potter thought his troubles were over. The only thing he thought he had to worry about was the second task, which the three champions had been informed would take place sometime in early February. So, as the days got colder and the nights got longer, James found himself happily entering December with a full bout of Christmas cheer.

That was, of course, until Professor Longbottom's fateful Herbology lesson on a dismal Tuesday afternoon just mere weeks before Christmas Day.

"The Yule Ball," Professor Longbottom began, speaking over a potted Venomous Tentacula which tried to strangle him with its vines. Just those three little words caused many load groans among the Gryffindor seventh-years; Fred shot James a dark look as Professor Longbottom continued, "has been a tradition amongst our three competing schools since the Triwizard Tournament was first created. You are permitted to invite a younger student if you wish" (Fred now turned, grinning slyly, to Lysander, who immediately blushed to the roots of his sandy-blonde hair) "however the Yule Ball is primarily only open to those in fourth-year and above. I expect you all to turn up with dates or, unfortunately, you will be forced to face Professor McGonagall's displeasure."

Professor Longbottom wrinkled his nose and began a conversation with the nearest student as the rest of the seventh-years broke out into excited conversation.

"Who are you taking?" Roxanne asked James, her face alight with uncharacteristic enthusiasm. From her other side, Fred was loudly debating the chances of various handpicked students of coming up with dates for the Yule Ball, much to the amusement of those around him.

James shrugged. "No idea. I suppose I'm going to have to ask someone, though, or I'd look a bit of a prat."

Roxanne agreed, turning back to her own Venomous Tentacula and trimming its leaves off with a pair of garden shears.

"You'll have no problem," she said absent-mindedly, "after all, you're the Hogwarts champion. Girls will be queuing up to go with you."

This James sympathised with, but there was still the nagging doubt in the back of his mind over the next few days that told him that he'd never find a date for the Yule Ball. Even Albus had returned, beaming, to the common room a week later to announce to everyone listening that he was going with Helena Davies; and word had it that Frederick Poliakoff had actually personally approached Roxanne and had asked her out there and then, in the middle of the Great Hall one morning at breakfast.

"Just get it over with, mate," said Lysander, as he and James left the Great Hall that day, minutes after Roxanne had accepted Poliakoff's invitation. "If you don't, it'll only be worse when -" He cut off as Dominique Weasley appeared, staring at them both intently. "Oh, goodness."

"_Excusez-moi_?" she said, tossing her silvery-blonde hair and capturing the attention of every boy waiting around in the Entrance Hall. "May I 'ave a word?"

James and Lysander looked at each other, but she didn't wait for a reply before pressing on ahead.

"I was wondering," Dominique said, turning to Lysander, smiling widely and revealing a set of straight, perfect teeth, "eef you 'ad a companion for zee Yule Ball, Meester Scamander."

Lysander was so taken aback he could only splutter in response. James smirked, edging away slowly so his best friend could have a bit of privacy.

"I - no, yeah," Lysander managed, feeling his face heat up of its own accord. "No, 'course - 'course I don't."

Dominique beamed.

"_Excellente_!" she cried. "Eet eez settled, you are going wiz me."

As she left, James joined Lysander again, who was staring after the Beauxbatons champion with his mouth slightly open.

"That was to the point," the former remarked bluntly, raising his eyebrows and staring at Lysander from over the rims of his glasses.

"Just a bit," Lysander whispered, his face flushed and his eyes unfocused.

James rolled his own hazel eyes and dragged his best friend up the staircase, inwardly wondering just how many more of his friends would find dates for the Yule Ball before he did.

* * *

"He's going to be the only Gryffindor without a date," Lily hissed to Hugo, as the two fourth-years followed her brother and his best friend up the staircase after witnessing the scene in the Entrance Hall with Dominique.

Hugo shrugged non-committally. "Speak for yourself. I still haven't got a date and the Yule Ball's next week."

Lily sniggered, pushing her glasses up her nose and lightly nudging her friend with her shoulder.

"In fact," Hugo continued, "I was going to ask you if you wanted to go with me. Not - not as my date!" he added quickly, as Lily stared at him with horror. "I mean, just as friends. Save us both looking like idiots and facing McGonagall's _displeasure_."

The fourth-years had also received the same speech Professor Longbottom had given his Herbology NEWT class, but the younger students took it with an added level of excitement for this would be the first time they would have had the opportunity to dress up in school. At any rate, it was largely reported that many of the fourth- and fifth-years already had found dates for the Yule Ball, despite them being at least two years younger than those that were oldest and, therefore, more romantically confident. Albus, unluckily, was a standing testimony.

"I can't go with you," Lily replied, as the two friends passed the fifth floor. "Not because you're my cousin - really, you're the closest thing I have to a best friend since James -" she faltered, looking quite confused. "Anyway, I already have a date."

Now it was Hugo's turn to look at his friend with horror.

"Who are _you _going with?" he spluttered, sure that Lily was joking. After all, Hugo had privately thought that she and Lysander would go together to the Yule Ball, but after witnessing Dominique asking out Lysander, Hugo was forced to conclude that she would be going alone. Hence why he had asked her, as a friend.

Lily scanned the staircase ahead of her, checking, Hugo knew, for any sign of her brother. It appeared that James and Lysander had already reached the common room, something that both of the fourth-years were thankful for. If Lily didn't want James overhearing who she was going with to the Yule Ball, the fact that he wasn't in the vicinity at least saved another row.

"Well?" Hugo demanded, crossing his arms over his chest and raising his eyebrows.

Lily took a deep breath, looking unusually nervous. "Scorpius Malfoy," she then said simply.

* * *

The morning of the twenty-fourth of December dawned bright and early, with snow littering the window ledges all around the castle, and it was with a reluctant groan that some of the Gryffindor boys awoke. The Yule Ball was to be held tonight, and for those who hadn't yet got partners, like James, this was an event that was looming over them like a black cloud. For boys like and Albus and Frederick Poliakoff, however, who had summoned enough integrity to actively go out and find partners, the prospect of the dance was something to look forward to.

As you can imagine, James was not at all looking forward to the Yule Ball that night. In fact, his reluctance to attend the traditional dance had resulted in a very loud and blazing argument with the Weasley twins, both of whom had found dates (albeit Fred, who really couldn't care less about girls at the moment, was taking Lucy Weasley, Molly's younger sister, who was in the third-year and would have been too young to attend the Yule Ball had Fred not asked her, strictly, as he had pointed out when her eyes shone and she beamed happily, platonically). Roxanne had been so furious with James's attitude that she had sworn she would find her friend a date even if it was the last thing she would do. Unfortunately, time was quickly running out, so James seemed forced to partake in a night of lonely seclusion in the common room while the rest of the school would be downstairs dancing.

He was so ready to accept what he was sure was his fate that he didn't even bother answering Lysander's call to say he was going down to breakfast, nor reply to the other boys in his dormitory when they, too, tried to coax some sense into him about finding a partner.

In fact, he wouldn't have got out of bed at all had it not been for Roxanne, who after barging into the boys' dormitory without a second glance had dragged James out of his four-poster by his ankles and thrown him some clothes.

Bruised and aching, James sat on the floor of his dormitory while he half-listened to Roxanne's tirade about making an effort (Hark who's talking, he thought) and tried not to think of the embarrassment he would have to face by admitting to the headmistress that he was not going to go to the Yule Ball tonight. He was wallowing so deep in his misery he almost didn't hear Roxanne when she told him that her pact to find him a date had been entirely successful, much to both her and Fred's surprise.

"Wait - what?" James asked, staring up at her blurry image. He reached up to his bedside table for his glasses and, by putting them on, Roxanne came into clear focus.

"Yes, I've found you a date," she was saying, her red hair bunched up at the back of her head with a pencil sticking through it. She appeared to be consulting what looked like a notebook, with pages and pages of scribbled out names and hastily drawn crosses and arrows. James correctly guessed that that list contained all the girls Roxanne had asked to be his partner, all of whom, apparently, already had a date.

"Who is it?"

"Rose Weasley," said Roxanne absently, tucking her notebook into her jeans pocket and looking around for a sign of her twin brother. "Hi, Fred."

Fred, who James had not notice before now and who was buried under a pile of bed covers, raised his arm around in the air in a gesture that was clearly supposed to be a form of greeting. He gave a muffled "Mornin'" before turning over and dozing off again.

Aside from the three friends, the rest of the dormitory was empty. No doubt Lysander, having left James to go down to breakfast, was out in the grounds with Lily or the other seventh-year boys. James would catch up with him later; right now, he had a very pressing matter to discuss with Roxanne.

"_Rose Weasley_?" he repeated, mouthing the words silently again with shock. He would have thought that all of his cousins had found dates - even Hugo had accepted a last-minute invitation from a Hufflepuff fourth-year called Phoebe Hill, which was saying something.

"I know," Roxanne nodded, walking over to Lysander's empty bed and sitting down on it. "She only agreed to come with you because you didn't have anybody else; I was sure she was just about to go with another boy had I not stepped in and put a stop to _that_."

James had never fully appreciated the Weasley twins' talents before.

At any rate, as the day went on, he found himself rather looking forward to the Yule Ball; he even considered making things up with Lily in the Great Hall before a sense of overwhelming carelessness washed over him and he found himself oblivious to his little sister's presence once more. He and Lily did, after all, used to be best friends, before the duel with him and Scorpius that had caused the two siblings to turn positively allergic to the other's presence.

But James didn't care. He expected that with the excitement of the upcoming Yule Ball Lily would be so overcome with cheer that night that she would profusely apologise to him and beg him for forgiveness.

Unfortunately, he did not know then how much of a catalyst the Yule Ball would be in causing the exact opposite.


	8. The Problem With Dancing

"Well, I can see that you have a partner," Lily remarked dryly, as she joined Hugo in the Entrance Hall just minutes before the Yule Ball was due to start. Hugo was standing next to a petite, friendly-looking brunette girl in yellow dress robes with a spray of freckles across her nose. She smiled and introduced herself as Phoebe Hill, the Hufflepuff fourth-year who had asked Hugo to the ball, when Lily had turned to her enquiringly.

"I can see you don't," Hugo shot back, referring to Lily's notably absent partner. "Malfoy not shown up?"

Lily drew herself up to her full height and glared at her best friend. Phoebe fidgeted, clearly uncomfortable with the tension that was threatening to erupt between them.

"He's right here," said Lily icily, and with one smooth movement she appeared to conjure Scorpius Malfoy up out of thin air.

Hugo eyed Lily's partner with distaste. Scorpius was the spitting image of his father, Draco, with the same pale blonde hair and thin, pointed face. However, Scorpius's eyes looked kinder; there was distinctive warmth in them that he certainly didn't inherit from his father. Nevertheless, Hugo continued to scrutinise him, being one of the few Weasleys who still bore a grudge against the Malfoy family. Scorpius, to his credit, did not quail under Hugo's gaze; instead, he put an arm around Lily's small waist and held her close to him.

Had it not been for Phoebe Hill, Hugo would have punched him right there and then. As it were, Professor McGonagall took that opportunity to order all of the younger students into the Great Hall to await the procession, in which the champions and their partners would make a great show of both entering the Great Hall and starting the dancing.

Hugo made the most of that moment by escaping from Scorpius's presence with Phoebe; the two fourth-years slipped between a gang of Durmstrang boys into the Great Hall. Lily and Scorpius looked at each other awkwardly.

"Shall we go in, then?" asked the latter pleasantly, gesturing towards the Great Hall. Lily nodded, took his arm, and together they joined the crowd of students all jostling to enter the Hall first.

* * *

"Thank goodness you're here," James whispered, as Lysander joined the champions' procession and stood next to Dominique, who was looking beautiful in dress robes made of silver silk. "This is bloody nerve-wracking; I'm so glad I have a date. I heard that McGonagall absolutely clobbered a boy who turned up partnerless."

Lysander murmured his assent, not really listening as his grey eyes scanned the Entrance Hall. Students were still milling around, including, he noticed, Lily and Scorpius Malfoy. His stomach clenched as he watched them laughing together.

"'Ow are you feeling?" asked Dominique, throwing her silvery-blonde hair over her shoulder so it caught the light. "You do not look very well."

"I'm fine," said Lysander shortly, and his date dropped the matter. They were joined, minutes later, by Rose, who took James's arm friendlily; and Roxanne and Frederick Poliakoff, both of whom looked very pleased with themselves.

Seconds later, Professor McGonagall, who had donned a red tartan hat for the occasion, ordered the three champions and their partners into an orderly line, ready for them to enter the Great Hall.

The grand oak doors to the Great Hall swung open and Lysander, feeling faintly sick, followed James and Rose into the Hall, very aware of Dominique's arm in his.

* * *

"I am absolutely exhausted!" Lysander panted, two hours later, flopping down next to Lily and Scorpius on an ice-covered bench. He had been dancing with Dominique since the start of the ball, and already his feet were beginning to hurt.

Roxanne and Frederick Poliakoff, on the other hand, were doing such an exuberant waltz in the middle of the dance floor they were causing onlookers to hurriedly move out of their way to save a collision. James was twirling Rose under his arm and, as the music slowed down to a rather dismal pace, he caught sight of Lysander, Lily and Scorpius sitting together and his face darkened.

With an overwhelming feeling of horror, sure that the night would take a nasty turn should James join them, Lysander hurriedly struck up a conversation with Scorpius and Lily about the Triwizard Tournament, trying to ignore the jealous voice in the back of his mind that chided him for not asking Lily to the Yule Ball sooner.

Not that he fancied her or anything, he told himself. Of course he didn't. That idea was simply laughable.

_Or is it? _the jealous voice asked unctuously. Lysander firmly ignored it.

"'Ere, I 'ave your Butterbeer," Dominique was saying as she slid next to Lysander at the table. She handed him his drink and he sipped it, whilst Dominique begin talking to Scorpius Malfoy. "Eez eet true your father was a Death Eater?"

Scorpius opened his mouth, closed it again and then opened it once more, clearly embarrassed. Lily snickered, catching Lysander's eye and motioning for him to join her outside. He obeyed, and the two stood up, completely unnoticed by their partners as they escaped from the awkward conversation Scorpius and Dominique were having.

"I thought it was best to leave them at it," Lily said conversationally as they walked out into the grounds and the chilly night air. She shivered involuntarily from the cold; Lysander gallantly removed his jacket and swung it over her small shoulders, appreciating how the darkness hid his blushing face. "Thanks."

"No problem," he replied, pushing his hands into his pockets and looking sideways at Lily. She looked very pretty; gone were the thick glasses that she hid her hazel eyes behind. Her messy red hair was straightened into a layered bob that fell softly around her shoulders; the green dress robes she wore just enhanced her petite figure. Lysander was met with a sudden desire to kiss her.

Lily glanced his way, saw him looking at her and grinned.

"Something wrong?" she asked, biting her lip and looking as though she knew exactly what was on Lysander's mind.

Lysander gave a start. "Of course not. I was just thinking about James - he didn't look too happy when he saw us sitting with Scorpius."

They turned a corner. Up ahead was a fountain; around them were miles of greenery - trees, bushes and wild looking plants that could only have been bred in Professor Longbottom's greenhouse. As the pair walked further away from the castle Lily sighed and looked quite thoughtful.

"That's his problem," she said at last. "I can date whoever I want; it's really none of his business."

Lysander privately disagreed, hating himself for even thinking about suggesting to Lily that she should break up with Scorpius.

He was so absorbed with the conflicting voices in his head, one of which insulted him for daring to consider his best friend's sister as anything more than someone he could have a platonic friendship with, the other - which sounded suspiciously like his twin brother Lorcan, who was most certainly _not_ someone he usually went to for advice (if he did, the result tended to involve a lot more hassle and unnecessary drama than would have been caused if the situation was left to run its own course) - happily blackmailing him into leaning over and kissing Lily, that he didn't notice when her arm slipped into his nor when someone far behind them yelled their names.

"Lysander," Lily whispered, startling him out of his thoughts and making him focus on her, "I think Hugo's calling us."

Lysander looked over his shoulder and, sure enough, there was a shadowy silhouette coming towards them that was the exact same height as Lily's cousin. Hugo waved at them and they waved back, before they both simultaneously realised that he was only waving to catch their attention.

As Hugo got closer they noticed he looked quite worried; his eyebrows were knitted together underneath his exhausted expression and his hands trembled as he clutched a stitch in his side.

"Lily, Lysander -" he managed, before giving up with words completely and simply motioning for them to join him. They did so, and as soon as Lily reached his side Hugo grabbed her hand and dragged her back towards the castle. Lily was so startled she could only grab Lysander's arm in turn and follow her cousin back towards Hogwarts.

"Hugo, what's going on?" asked Lysander rationally, all thoughts of Lily gone from his brain as he noticed how frantically Hugo was racing them back towards the castle and into the Entrance Hall.

Hugo didn't reply, just shook his brown hair out of his eyes and pushed open the doors to the Great Hall.

"That," he said at last pointing somewhere into the midst of a large crowd of students, all of whom were grouped around something none of them could see. As the trio stood by the doors surveying the scene they each heard a series of strangled yells and war cries that made all of them, Hugo included, jump.

Lily ran through a group of Ravenclaw boys to reach the drama, Lysander quickly dodging a gossiping knot of girls to follow her.

"Oh my," Lily murmured, which pretty much, in Lysander's opinion, summed up what was going on before their eyes.

James, his dress robes out of place and his glasses lying abandoned on the floor next to his feet, had Scorpius Malfoy in a headlock. Scorpius was battling back with full force, kicking every inch of James he could reach from behind. As Lily watched he grabbed James's arm and pulled it out from under his neck with such force that there was a sickening snap and everybody watching winced.

James retaliated with a heavy punch at Scorpius's mouth: he made contact and two of Scorpius's teeth fell out. He glanced up, seeing his best friend and sister in the crowd and in that moment he let his guard down.

"AHA!" Scorpius yelled, tackling James from behind and causing both boys to fall to the floor. There they battered each other, pummelling every inch of the other's body that they could reach, not caring as they rolled into tables of food and sent lobster and oak-matured mead flying.

Lysander hastened to help his best friend. It was his duty, after all, to show loyalty to James whenever he was in times of need. Lysander rightly guessed that now was one of those times.

Drawing his wand and pointing it directly at Scorpius's chest, Lysander had just opened his mouth to jinx him when the two boys crashed into him and sent both him and his wand sprawling to the ground. Lysander threw them off as though they weighed nothing more than a pair of Quaffles, getting to his feet and brushing his robes clean with his hands.

"Take that!" James screamed, pouncing on Scorpius, who was now attempting to crawl away to safety under a table. Lysander shook his sandy-blonde hair out of his eyes impatiently and used that moment to catch his breath; then, completely forgetting that he used to be a Prefect and that he was in the middle of the Great Hall, surrounded by students and teachers, he promptly used a popular Muggle manoeuver on Scorpius entitled '_The Burning Sushi_' which involved a broken leg, twisted wrist and quite a few choicy swear words from Scorpius.

Unfortunately, he accidentally missed and gave James's forehead a surprisingly heavy blow with the back of his hand. James cursed, pushing Scorpius off him and took advantage of Lysander's momentary surprise by kicking him where it hurts.

"That is _enough_!" Professor McGonagall, throwing a Beauxbatons boy aside, arrived on the scene and grabbed both James and Lysander by their collars, forcing them to their feet. Madame Lejeune, following McGonagall's example, accosted Scorpius as he lay whimpering on the floor. "How _dare_ you make such a scene in front of our guests?"

James, Lysander and Scorpius could only mouth silent curses to one another as they stood in front of the entire school, their robes destroyed and their hair a mess. James's glasses, having been kicked away from his foot in the fight, were now lying at the feet of a blushing Hufflepuff boy.

"Explain yourselves!" Professor McGonagall seethed, ignoring the attention she was receiving from the other students and only looking between Lysander, James and Scorpius.

"He was dancing with my sister!" James spat out, glaring sideways at Scorpius who, he was pleased to see, sported a heavily bruised eye and several cuts on his cheeks. James doubted he looked much better; Lysander, on the other hand, looked rather proud that he had escaped the fight with nothing more than a scratch on him.

"And is that a valid reason to resort to Muggle displays of violence?" said McGonagall, her spectacles falling down her nose as her nostrils flared angrily.

"Yes," said James bitterly; a minute later he regretted it, however, as McGonagall and Madame Lejeune let go of the three boys and both looked simply furious. Pyotr Vulchanov, on the other hand, looked very pleased as he lurked in the shadows and watched the two headmistresses punish the three boys.

"Right," started Professor McGonagall, pointing a finger at James, Scorpius and Lysander in turn, "all three of you have two months of detention. Any complaining," she added, as James opened his mouth to protest, "and I'll increase that to _four_ months. Potter, if the Triwizard Tournament didn't have a _binding magical contract_ I would ban you from competing in that, as well."

Lily rushed forwards as the two headmistresses shooed the watching students away impatiently before leaving the Great Hall. For one heart-stopping moment Lysander thought it was to him that Lily was fighting to get to, until she dropped down beside Scorpius and examined his injuries gently.

He was so concerned with venomous thoughts about how to get revenge on Scorpius that he didn't notice when Dominique - who, truthfully, he had forgotten all about after he had left her earlier in the evening to take a walk in the grounds with Lily - joined his side and began loudly complaining about Professor McGonagall in a confusing mixture of French and English. He did, however, notice Albus, Rose and Helena muttering darkly to each other at the edge of the Hall (Lysander guessed that Rose wasn't very impressed with how her dance partner had got himself into a fight, despite it being with Scorpius, who she herself had cursed a few months ago), Hugo and the Weasley twins beginning to collect money from last-minute bets they had taken on who would win the boys' fight (James had the lowest odds, Lysander the highest, which the latter though was fair) and Scorpius, his face turning green beneath his injuries, turning sideways to Lily and throwing up all over her lap.


	9. Food Fight At Breakfast

Ever since the disastrous Yule Ball in December, James was so concerned with avoiding both Lily and his newly ex-best friend Lysander over the next two months that he completely forgot about the forthcoming second task, and, along with it, the fact that he was supposed to be revising for his NEWT examinations whilst also trying to figure out what the golden basilisk fang meant from the first task.

In fact, as the weeks slipped away and as James began to shun his revision and his friends to an extreme, it took one dismal morning on the 9th of February for Fred and Roxanne to lose their patience and personally sort out their friend for themselves.

"All right, Potter," Roxanne snapped, throwing her rucksack down onto the library table James was sitting at and crossing her arms over her chest. Behind her, Fred glared furiously from behind his long red fringe and mimicked his sister's defiant posture. "You are coming down to breakfast with us and I don't care about any excuses you come up with."

James, his hazel eyes weary and his face pale from having not seen sunlight in weeks, looked up at the twins and managed a faint frown.

"Why?" he asked simply, daring himself not to answer his own question. He knew, inwardly, exactly why the twins were annoyed; exactly why they had sought out his presence and demanded his companionship this morning. He had been so sick and tired of Lily's attitude towards him that when Lysander, half an hour after the headmistress had put a stop to the Yule Ball back in December, dared to suggest that he should accept Lily and Scorpius's relationship and move on, he had lost patience and snapped completely.

Admittedly, James had to give his ex-best friend credit for the way Lysander had refused to rise when he had shouted and screamed at him for his insolence; however, Lysander could be just as stubborn as any Weasley could when he wanted to and had avoided James like the plague ever since their one-sided argument.

Friendless, tired, and completely stressing out about the second task, James had taken to withdrawing to the library with every spare chance he got; he had barely set foot in the Great Hall or Gryffindor common room since December save for the necessary hours of sleep he needed or a solitary lunch, refused to listen to Rose or Hugo's rational words of wisdom about his behaviour and all in all became such an elusive character that many young students were considering calling him a myth and turning his tale into a ghost story to frighten their siblings and friends with.

Needless to say, Fred and Roxanne, both of whom were relatively short-tempered and fierce friends to the end, were not at all impressed when their friend practically vanished off the face of the earth merely days after the Yule Ball came to a close.

It was for that reason they chose to make James see sense before he isolated himself completely from civilisation; after all, Fred had mused a few days before they came to their decision, friends were supposed to look out for each other. True, nobody had been very loyal recently - Lily and James and, more recently, Lysander were unfortunately a standing testimony to this fact.

"It doesn't matter _why_," Roxanne said scathingly, eyeing James up and down and marvelling at how thin he had become. She then privately wondered whether this was caused by the Triwizard Tournament – since Dominique Weasley was, truth be told, very thin herself – and whether it was contagious. "The point is, people – especially _Triwizard champions, _who are supposed to be _brave_ – do not abandon life just because their sister and best friend are rightly annoyed by their behaviour."

James took a while to process this; once he had, his eyebrows knitted together and his hazel eyes shone with anger. Roxanne did not care for this - she was so pleased her friend was showing any sign of emotion she probably wouldn't have minded if he'd punched her.

"You think they're _right_ to be annoyed with me?" he cried, standing up so fast the table wobbled on its weak legs and Roxanne's bag almost tipped onto the floor.

Throwing out a hand to stop his sister's rucksack from emptying its contents all over the stone floor, Fred looked up at his friend soulfully from under his long red fringe.

"None of you have a right to be annoyed," he said wisely, "but there are faults on all your part. It's not up to you to decide who your sister dates, _nor_ -" he stressed, as James showed signs of arguing "- is it acceptable for either of you to hold a grudge over something that happened months ago between Scorpius and Rose. Lysander had the right idea when he told you to accept Lily's relationship and move on. He didn't deserve to be yelled at for that."

James stared at Fred for a long moment, as did Roxanne. It was very unusual for either of the Weasley twins to be fazed by something enough to actually offer helpful advice – the last time in James's memory that either of the twins had attempted to guide a fellow student was with a Hufflepuff fifth-year called Mark sometime in November when they had suggested to him and his friends that they help blow up the third-floor corridor. Needless to say, their advice was not well received. Still, James felt very touched that the twins would use their time and effort to seek him out and at least try to make him see sense.

"Fine," he said heavily, picking up his books and inwardly feeling a rush of warmth towards the twins as they cheered loudly, "I'm coming. But I'm not sitting anywhere near Lily, Lysander, or …" he paused, searching for another name to finish his sentence, "Scorpius Malfoy."

Since the latter was in a completely different house to James, the twins were not altogether too worried about the two boys sharing breakfast. As it was, Fred happened to know for a fact that Scorpius Malfoy was going to be spending the morning shut up in the hospital wing with two fellow Slytherin fifth-years, all of them sporting rather fetching hairstyles made out of octopi tentacles, something for which Fred, Roxanne and Lysander all claimed credit.

Fred, of course, saw no reason to trouble James with the twins' early-morning escapades; with an unusual bout of empathy Fred had previously sworn to his two comrades that none of them should speak of the incident in the near future. After all, he had explained, Lily would not be too happy at all, finding out her boyfriend had been the target of a Weasley-Scamander prank. She would then blame James, and all of them agreed on the fact that James simply had quite enough on his plate to be getting on with at the moment.

* * *

"I can't believe I'm crazy enough to do this," James hissed under his breath as the twins led him into the Great Hall seven minutes later. Roxanne turned around to scoff at him, her eyebrows raised and her hands on her hips.

"Oh, for the love of Voldemort," Roxanne then muttered, getting side-tracked as a group of first-years halted right in their tracks to stare open-mouthed at James. "Jamie, you've eaten breakfast in the Great Hall pretty much every day for _seven years_. And stop your staring!" she added to the first-years, causing them all to scurry away with fright.

Fred and James smirked together as Roxanne stomped away to the Gryffindor table, her expression so irritated that she scared away a quartet of third-years without even saying anything, leaving a nicely-sized gap ready and waiting for James and the twins to sit at.

"Bet you've missed eating a proper breakfast, eh?" Fred said with relish, grabbing a huge stack of toast and spreading butter and jam liberally on each slice. James, his mouth already full of fried mushrooms and bacon, murmured his assent before tucking into a large plate of scrambled egg. Out of the corners of his hazel eyes he noticed Lily and Hugo both sitting together, their heads close and their faces tense. Hugo's arm was around Lily's shoulder.

James felt an unexplainable rush of jealousy towards Hugo; after all, he had always thought of himself as the one who was there for his little sister, but now that both of their worlds had been shaken up, it appeared that Lily was now confiding more than ever in her childhood friend and cousin. This he accepted - after all, he was in no position to talk to his little sister about whatever it was that was bothering the pair of fourth-years - but it still pained him.

As for Lysander, who the twins claimed had been hanging around with a large gang of Hufflepuff seventh-years ever since James has shunned him, he was sitting ten feet away from Lily and Hugo on the Gryffindor house table next to a sixth-year called Jack Newton. As James eyed the two boys Lysander looked up and caught his gaze.

Eyebrow raised and grey eyes calculating, Lysander stared at his ex-best friend for a long while before sighing heavily and getting back to his breakfast.

James was hit with a sudden, inexplicable rush of fury.

"He's such a loser," he muttered, and the twins even stopped eating to look up at James.

"Who is?" Roxanne asked him, staring around before her brown eyes settled on Lysander's slightly pink face. "Oh. I see."

The twins then shared an identical look of amusement before Roxanne, throwing her layered red hair over her shoulder, picked up a reasonably sized boiled egg and threw it right at Lysander.

The egg bounced directly off Lysander's head before it came to a rest at his elbow. Lysander looked up. James and Fred both tried to pretend as though they hadn't seen what had happened, but Roxanne swung a leg over the bench and faced Lysander full on.

"Come on, Scamander," she said, softness creeping into her playful tone. "Come and join us."

Lysander Scamander, however, did not appreciate being hit by boiled eggs.

With the eyes of half of the Gryffindor table upon him now (he refused to look anywhere near Lily), Lysander picked up a slice of buttered toast from his neighbour's plate, took aim, and lobbed it through the air.

Fred shrieked as the toast hit him in the eye – unlike Roxanne, Lysander did not have a very good aim. Lysander ducked, blushing right to the roots of his sandy blonde hair; Fred, however, threw a fried tomato back in his direction and accidentally hit Jack Newton. The tomato splattered all over Jack's robes; the Gryffindor sixth-year stood up, shaking tomato juice off his body, and hurled an entire plate of bacon back at the twins.

Chaos ensued.

Amidst various yelled phrases of "Food fight!", James and the twins all leapt up, grabbing cereal bowls to protect themselves from the oncoming rain of breakfast from a large gang of brutal-looking fourth-year boys who had chosen that opportunity to stand next to them; Lysander and Jack Newton teamed up with Molly Weasley and the trio threw large oranges to the Ravenclaw table, the oranges bruising a few Ravenclaws heavily whilst Rose and Helena Davies flung cornflakes at jeering Beauxbatons boys; Lily and Hugo jumped onto the table and were using their wands to levitate a large steaming vat of porridge all the way down to the Slytherin side of the Great Hall; and Albus, his raven black hair pushed back from his face, had taken this opportunity to show off his juggling skills with three bananas, a medium-sized apple, and a jug of pumpkin juice. Unfortunately, Albus was not getting the attention his actions desired: even first-year Hufflepuff girls were paying more attention to the food fight than they were to the middle Potter child.

"Heads up!" Fred yelled, pitching a dish of scrambled egg across the Hall. It landed with a splat over a huddle of Durmstrang students, who let out strangled lines of swear words after their blood red robes got covered in egg.

"You'll pay for that one, Weasley!" one Durmstrang boy roared, lunging towards the Gryffindor table and accidentally knocking a string of students onto the floor in the process.

"I don't think so!" Lily sang, grabbing Hugo's hand and racing towards the Durmstrang boy. Knocking him flat with a simple blow, Lily turned back to Fred and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Thanks, Lily!" Fred cheered, picking up a ladle and using it to ward off oncoming baked beans with the apt aim that only a Beater could muster up. Roxanne hastened to do the same as the onslaught grew; James, on the other hand, momentarily forgot his dispute with his sister as he clapped Lily on the back and punched a fist into the air.

"Beating up a Durmstrang boy! I'm proud of you, Lee!"

There was a moment's awkward silence as both Lily and Hugo stared at James, both clearly unimpressed.

Hoping to avoid another row, Hugo threw an arm around his cousin and dragged her away, but not before Lily could hiss a few curses and insults under her breath to her eldest brother.

Meanwhile, Lucy Weasley screamed as she got covered in fried egg; Jack Newton crawled to safety under the Hufflepuff table; and Lysander chose that moment to pick up a bowl of cornflakes and throw it with such force that it flew across the Hall and landed on the Ravenclaw table, covering a gaggle of Beauxbatons girls – amongst them Dominique Weasley – with soggy cereal.

"Watch out!" he then warned, as a yell came from a Beauxbatons student and a dish of butter came whizzing in the air towards the Gryffindors, which James caught blindly with the precision of a Seeker. Jack Newton, still under the Hufflepuff table, was using Molly Weasley's eyes to commentate loudly on the state of the distress.

"And a direct hit from the Beauxbatons champion, Roxanne screams, Lysander starts defending Lily … tense stuff this, folks, very tense – oh wait! There's a late arrival into this battle of food and willpower … yes, it's much-loved Durmstrang headmaster Pyotr Vulchanov swooping down the Great Hall … ooh, he doesn't look happy!"

Pyotr Vulchanov, indeed, did not look at all impressed with the state that the Hall was in as he swept towards the empty High Table and faced the students. His black eyes glittered with malice as a piece of toast landed in the open hood of his robes, thrown by a Hufflepuff fifth-year called Mark.

A few of the younger and older students turned obediently to face him, but the fourth- and fifth-years, by a majority, battled on.

"All of you stop fighting _now_!" Pyotr Vulchanov roared, removing the toast from his hood, but his words had next to no effect on the students.

An accumulation of sixth-year girls were trying and failing to repel the flying food using Shield Charms; James, his red hair dangling over his glasses, recklessly sent a pitcher of pumpkin juice soaring through the air – it hit a small boy in the head who was immediately knocked out cold; Lily, Lysander and Hugo were laughing breathlessly as they sat out and watched the display; Jack Newton, however, was still under the table commentating.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Pyotr Vulchanov bellowed, throwing silence over the students as quickly and easily as if it were a cloak.

"Oh boy," the Weasley twins murmured together, as the Durmstrang headmaster marched down to the centre of the Great Hall and surveyed the mess. Vulchanov's thin lips curled into a sneer as he observed a Slytherin boy in a headlock.

"When I find out who did this …" he began, his unspoken threat lingering in the air. Almost unconsciously, all eyes turned to James, who let out a splutter of indignation.

"It wasn't even me!" he yelled, his voice piercing the silence like a knife. But Pyotr Vulchanov didn't care. Any confession – silent or otherwise – was enough for the Durmstrang headmaster to punish the Hogwarts champion.

"Fabulous," Vulchanov drawled, although it really was anything but fabulous. James gulped as Vulchanov's dark eyes scanned the Hall, picking up on Lysander's messy robes, the twins' humorous smirks and Lily and Hugo's porridge-splattered shirts. "All of you with a surname of _Potter_ or _Weasley_ or …" he eyed Lysander, "_Scampy_, stay behind. The rest of you – get rid."

The students moved as one to the oak doors, pleased and relieved to be off the hook, all of them looking forward to a hot shower to get the mess off their robes and faces, but a few were causing a little more of a complication than was absolutely necessary.

Helena Davies, for example, was standing loyally by Rose Weasley's side; the latter of whom was loudly ranting Albus about how they were Prefects and should not be incriminated for something that was not their fault; Lucy Weasley was close to tears, leaving a Hufflepuff fifth-year named Mark (whose surname was certainly _not_ 'Potter', 'Weasley', or 'Scampy' and therefore should not even have been there) to stay and comfort her; and Jack Newton had remained behind to argue Lysander's case, who was audibly protesting to Pyotr Vulchanov that his surname was not, by any means, 'Scampy' and was, in fact, Scamander.

Lily and Hugo, on the other hand, were sitting quietly in a corner of the Great Hall, their heads bent together as they talked about something that was of clear importance. Dominique Weasley was muttering darkly with a group of Beauxbatons friends, who patted her on the arm comfortingly before leaving her to suffer through talking to the Weasley twins about serious matters. She was not having much success.

"This is ridiculous!" Lysander was saying in outrage, as Pyotr Vulchanov insisted for the twentieth time that his surname was 'Scampy'.

"Quite right," the latter sneered, turning away with a swish of his robes and noticing the mass of students that had remained behind. With a look of contempt to each of them in turn, he sorted them all out into three groups, innocent bystanders included.

Lily and Hugo were not impressed when they were split up, nor was the former especially when she was put in a group with James. Hugo, however, was placed in a reasonably sized group with Mark-the-Hufflepuff, Lysander and Molly Weasley.

Lily threw him a glance as she stood between James and Jack Newton, looking thoroughly miserable and not as though she would enjoy whatever Pyotr Vulchanov had in mind.

Admittedly, Hugo mused, as his bright blue eyes darted from his sister Rose to Albus, from Lily to Lysander and Dominique to Molly, neither did anybody else.

The only two who seemed to be enjoying the drama were Fred and Roxanne, who had taken it upon themselves to stand behind Vulchanov and mimic his words with large, raucous movements that made many students laugh.

"All of the students in this room," Pyotr Vulchanov began, ignoring the Weasley twins and instead surveying James and Dominique frostily, "are to clear up this mess. Any complaining –" he added quickly, as James started to protest "– and I will personally escort all of you up to Professor McGonagall's office."

There was a collective groan, but the students began to move as one to the edges of the Great Hall, pulling out their wands and half-heartedly repairing broken plates or Vanishing spilt eggs.

Hugo and Lysander set to work with cleaning the walls, all of which were splattered with a strange mixture of tomatoes, milk and baked beans. The former hummed as he worked, secretly pleased that he could be alone with Lysander – he knew full well it was an opportunity to quiz the seventh-year boy, and Hugo was not the kind of person to miss an opportunity.

Lily, Dominique and Rose had all teamed together to get rid of the majority of the rubble that littered the Great Hall's floor, but every time they cleaned one section of the Hall, Fred, Roxanne and, surprisingly, Albus 'accidentally' spilt some more mess from the mountains of dirty dishes they were carrying out of the Hall and down to the kitchens.

"Oops-a-daisy," Albus said cheerily, as a platter of toast came crashing to the floor at Rose's feet. "My, I am clumsy today."

Rose glared at her cousin, her bushy red hair hanging over her eyes as she knelt down and began to scrub the cold stone floor.

"Watch it, Al," she said through gritted teeth, privately feeling that her favourite cousin was having a lot more fun than he ought to – after all, he was supposed to be a Prefect. "Or I'll tell your girlfriend Helena about that time when you were three years old, in the bath, and you single-handedly caused your ceiling to explode."

Albus's vivid green eyes widened from behind his glasses; pushing them up his nose, he skittered away, muttering to Fred and Roxanne to stop their fooling around before they got into more trouble.

Smirking and feeling a strong sense of accomplishment, Rose turned back to her work; almost subconsciously humming the exact same tune that her younger brother was just moments before.


	10. Issues

"It's nearly Valentine's Day!" Helena Davies cried that afternoon, as the fifth-years sat in the stuffy Divination room interpreting tea leaves after spending two hours clearing up the Great Hall. James, Lysander and the other seventh-years had retired to the library, in order to spend their free periods revising for their NEWTs and looking up any information they wished to research. The fourth-years, who predominantly only consisted of Lily and Hugo, had raced off to Charms with an excited promise of learning about Banishing spells.

The few fifth-years, however, who were studying Divination were forced to spend the afternoon in the humid, warm and overpowering tower with only a cup of tea to keep them company. Nobody, subsequently, was in a good mood.

"I can't wait," said Albus drily, not even bothering to interpret his tea leaves and instead banging his head on the wooden table before him. "Why did I even take this subject?"

His girlfriend glared at him, and Scorpius Malfoy, who was sitting at the nearest table to them with a Hufflepuff fifth-year called Mark, started laughing under his breath.

"Who cares why you took this subject?" Helena digressed, rolling her dark eyes and flicking her long black hair over her shoulder. "It's nearly Valentine's Day!"

"As you've already said," muttered Albus, glancing good-naturedly at his girlfriend. It was not as though the middle Potter child _detested_ the annual romantic holiday, but rather that he could think of a whole host of things he would much rather be doing than spending the day giving in to corporate advertising. Albus knew he was not alone in this view; for once his two siblings agreed with him: James, who despite his cocky attitude and laidback outlook on life had never had a girlfriend, consequently frankly viewed Valentine's Day as a pointless waste of time; Lily, although she had a stronger inclination towards romance than her brothers, had always thought that those who were in a relationship should not feel the need to prove it with cards and flowers.

That did not, however, stop her from being pleased about receiving an average of seven cards and gifts every single year.

"Albus," Helena began suddenly, peering into Albus's teacup and examining the murky contents, "is it just me, or do your tea leaves resemble the Gri –"

"Here, let me do that." Scorpius Malfoy, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation for the past few minutes, swung back on his chair until he hit their table, and he swiped Helena's teacup from her hands before either she or Albus could do anything to protest. "The Grim, you say?"

Helena nodded frantically, her eyebrows knitted together and a concerned expression on her face as she stared breathlessly at Scorpius. Scorpius's Divination partner, Mark-the-Hufflepuff, and Albus both watched the scene with interested humour.

"Hmmm …" Scorpius murmured, tilting the cup towards him slightly. "But if you turn it on its head …" He rotated the cup slowly, deliberately positioning it so that the others could not see the tea leaves inside.

"What is it?" said Helena urgently, her fingernails gripping the wooden table and her hair falling over her face. Albus raised his eyebrows at the both of them but stayed silent.

"It's terrible," Scorpius moaned, slamming the teacup down before him theatrically. "I can't tell you."

Helena, Albus and Mark all simultaneously dived for the mug, but in their hurry and curiosity the teacup slipped of the table and promptly crashed all over the floor. There was a moment of silence in which the three of them eyed each other up, silently blaming the other two for smashing the cup before Scorpius swung forward on his chair and intercepted their gazes.

"It wasn't that bad," he said quietly, much to the displeasure of Helena, Mark and Albus, all of whom fixed Scorpius with an icy glare. "Truth be told, what I saw in the tea leaves was hardly that horrific at all."

"But –" Helena spluttered, gesturing wordlessly at the ruined remains of the teacup on the floor.

"I was joking," said Scorpius heavily, rolling his pale grey eyes as thought this was obvious. "All I saw was –"

Albus butted in before the Slytherin boy could finish his sentence. "Are we going to hear the truth of the matter now?"

"Certainly," Scorpius shrugged, "but it probably won't mean anything."

This was, perhaps, a rather pretentious thing to say when in the vicinity of somebody who craved Divination like a plant craves water; if Helena's quivering expression was anything to go by, what Scorpius had seen in her tea leaves certainly mattered very much.

Albus and Mark, however, could not care less – the pair had universally agreed that any minute wasted in Divination was a minute gained in terms of pleasure, since they both detested the subject and it was under separate fits of madness that they had chosen it for OWL study.

Helena looked at Scorpius with a jaundiced eye. "Tell me immediately," she snapped. Scorpius sighed heavily but willingly began relaying what he had seen in the tea leaved to her.

Curious despite themselves, Albus and Mark leaned in.

"All I saw," started Scorpius, a serious expression upon his pointed face, "was a picture of you and your boyfriend –" here he gestured to Albus, who gave a curt nod in recognition "– on Valentine's Day. From the looks of things in the teacup, it would probably be best if you didn't cause a fuss. I imagine that if you did, there'd be very bad consequences."

Helena, who was a firm believer in all things Divination, smiled sheepishly. "I expect you're right," she said, as Mark sniggered to himself privately. "If that's what my destiny says I should do on Valentine's Day, I won't cause a fuss."

Albus gave a start. His girlfriend was the most gossip prone student in the entire school; well known for making a fuss over girly things like perfume and Valentine's Day. The fact that Scorpius Malfoy could change that with just a mock reading of Helena's tea leaves made Albus view the Slytherin boy in a whole new light.

He was okay, for a Slytherin.

* * *

Lysander Scamander was the kind of boy who normally loved sitting in the library, away from immature students, studying for hours on end from the heaviest books on the shelves. It was his idea of a holiday: whenever he got sick of the Weasley twins' pranks or James's idiocies, he retired to the library to spend some time going through the Goblin Rebellion of 1612 with only his rucksack and occasionally Rose or Albus to accompany him.

Today, however, after the universal disaster of the food fight at lunchtime, Lysander, as usual, chose to spend his afternoon free periods to go to the library to study; what was unusual about this was that today James chose to go with him.

Lysander, at the least, expected his studying to be blighted with jokes or even insults from his ex-best friend - after all, James and Lysander had not spoken properly for weeks. Lysander, however, was sorely disappointed.

In a fit of uncharacteristic panic that Lysander suspected had been caused by Fred and Roxanne's intervention that morning, James had insisted profusely on revising, in detail, each of the five NEWT subjects that he was going to be examined on in June, forgetting entirely that the two boys were in a long-standing feud, which Lysander found remarkable. The two boys had consequently spent an uninteresting and frankly tedious afternoon in a stuffy corner of the library, doing nothing but leaf through books and scribble notes on parchment.

This, of course, would not have been a problem to Lysander had he not finished all of his work and been up to date on revision by the time James had sought his company; he therefore had absolutely nothing to do but stare aimlessly at the ceiling, trying to ignore the very annoying giggles that were coming from a few students some bookcases away and inwardly cursing James for being so bluntly two-faced by not remembering that they were fighting.

James, overhearing the unseen students' stifled laughter, glared up at his ex-best friend and pointedly turned a page in the battered Charms book he was making notes from.

"Since you're clearly not doing anything," he began, which Lysander thought was very unfair indeed, "go and shut them up."

Lysander yawned and stretched, making no efforts to stand up until James kicked him from under the table and jabbed a finger in the direction of the bookshelves.

His leg bruised and aching, Lysander dutifully stood and sauntered away, bitterly insulting James under his breath. He had just started to rant about James's cheek in pretending to be his friend when he ran straight into Lily, causing her to drop a high stack of books and possessions all over the floor.

And, Lysander noticed as he winced, on his toe.

"Oh, hello," said Lily, flushing as she bent down to pick up her possessions. She was in the process of scrabbling around for a pen when Lysander came to his senses and kneeled down to help her.

"Here," he said, holding out a pile of books to Lily as she shoved quills and parchment into her bag. Patiently waiting for her to take them off her, he read the titles that were printed on the spines with interest.

"_Wanderings of a Tree in the Alps_?" he read incredulously. "_Potion Opuscule_ … _Cram It!: How to Soar on Your OWLs_? Lily, you're not even taking OWL exams yet; you're a fourth-year."

Lily glared at Lysander from behind her fringe, snatching her books back and balancing them in the space between her arm and her waist.

"The last one's for Hugo, actually," she snapped, tossing her hair out of her face and narrowing her eyes. "He's gone revision mad ever since Rose told him how much work he'd have to do next year for our OWLs. He thought it better to start now than to leave it all to the last minute." Lily rolled her eyes with amusement, showing exactly what she thought of Hugo's insanity in that one gesture.

"And the others?" Lysander questioned, pointing to the thick books that rested on Lily's hip. "I'm pretty sure Hugo doesn't want to cram Potions, considering how I heard that he hates the subject …"

"Fine, they're for me," said Lily, beginning to walk past Lysander, tired with the way the conversation was heading. "I'm a closet reader, happy now? But don't tell James," she added as an afterthought, turning back to Lysander with a distant expression on her face.

"Why would I tell James?" Lysander asked stupidly, leaning against a bookshelf that toppled dangerously from taking his weight.

"I saw you sitting together; you two may have made up and become best friends again but don't think I'll do the same." Lily raised an eyebrow and continued walking away. "Good day to you."

Lysander, however, didn't move. He was confused as to whether Lily meant that she wouldn't make friends with him or that she wasn't about to make friends with James instead. As it occurred to him that maybe she meant both, he slammed a hand into the bookshelf with frustration and accidentally sent it toppling over to the next aisle.

The one advantage to this dreadful action was that Lysander, cringing from embarrassment, finally found the source of the quiet giggles that had been coming from the bookcases as he and James had been working.

Roxanne and Fred stared up at Lysander as books fell around them, both wearing identically sly grins, suggesting that they had heard the entirety of Lily and Lysander's conversation. In front of them was a blue print of a library, and, as Lysander watched, Fred drew a hasty line through one corner and caused the whole sheet to disappear.

"Just a plan to blow this joint up," said Roxanne casually to Lysander by means of an explanation. Lysander nodded, as though this was an everyday occurrence of the twins'; which, naturally, it was.

He would have turned to leave had it not been for him glimpsing a corner of folded parchment buried underneath a mountain of Transfiguration books. Making an unrecognisable noise of exclamation, he fished it out, completely blind to the panicked looks Fred and Roxanne were shooting one another.

"_'James, Lysander and Lily: An Operation'_," he read aloud, his eyes narrowing as he finished reading what was on the parchment. He glowered at the Weasley twins, both of whom were sporting a rather fetching puce colour on their cheeks. "An operation?" he repeated, his voice growing louder with each syllable. "You two are _plotting_ a way for me and James and Lily to become friends again?"

The twins stayed unnaturally silent. But Lysander wasn't finished; not by a long shot.

"How dare you!" he yelled, brandishing the parchment in their faces and stomping a foot in anger. "This is completely out of order! If James is being a prat about Lily then it's none of _your_ business to intervene and make anybody see different!"

Roxanne, ever one to fiercely argue back when she thought someone was wrong, crossed her arms tightly across her chest and frowned. "Considering your own, ah, _personal _feelings on the matter, are you therefore saying that you support Lily's relationship with Malfoy?"

Lysander was lost for words. Personally, he felt that who Lily chose to go out with was her own business, but he couldn't help but agree that maybe, for once, Roxanne had a point about his so-called 'personal feelings' on the issue.

Just to clarify, however, Lysander said, "Of course I support it. That doesn't mean I fancy her, though."

Fred snorted.

"It doesn't!" Lysander protested. "She's my best friend's sister – or ex-best friend's sister, if you will – and besides, James should learn to keep his fat head out of other people's business and let his sister get on with her life!"

Fred and Roxanne fell into a hushed silence. Wearing identically frozen expressions of horror, they both peered simultaneously around the fallen bookcase to see James sitting at his table, his quill gripped firmly in his fist and ink splattered all over his work, with a stormy expression on his face and his hazel eyes glaring furiously at Lysander.


	11. The Second Task

"…You will have one hour to receive what has been taken from you," McGonagall said, ten days later, to the three champions. The three schools had assembled themselves in the Great Hall, with the three champions and their teachers at the front.

Patronuses – one a cat, one a swan, and one a rat – stood majestically behind James, Dominique and Frederick respectively, each a symbol for the Heads of the schools.

As you can imagine, most of Hogwarts found it hilarious that Pyotr Vulchanov's patronus was a rat; but none expressed their amusement outwardly for fear of facing McGonagall's wrath.

"I do not understand," Dominique frowned.

"So basically," James interjected, as Madame Lejeune jabbered away in rapid French to Dominique, "these patronuses behind us act as your eyes, while we partake in this Task?"

Professor McGonagall nodded stiffly.

"And we," James continued, pointing between Frederick, Dominique and himself, "have an hour to find what's been taken from us; which is hidden somewhere in this school? And, of course, is the 'thing we'd miss most'?"

"That is correct," Pyotr Vulchanov sneered, his cold eyes flashing malevolently. "Do not forget that your basilisk fang is of utmost importance in this mission."

James gulped, his hand reaching into his pocket where the basilisk fang from the previous task rested. He and Rose had not got round to working it out, something that would probably act against him later.

"Now that we all know what we're doing, can we begin?" Frederick Poliakoff clapped his hands together eagerly.

"At the sound of the cannon," McGonagall said, "you may –"

A loud bang from the named cannon cut her off, and Argus Filch, who was operating the machine, shrugged helplessly. Hogwarts' headmistress scowled at him.

The three champions glanced at each other for a moment, before each of them ran to a small desk on which three pieces of parchment lay.

James picked one up. It read:

"_Let's spend tonight on top of the world,_

_We can do anything; we can be anything._

_I'll meet you tonight on top of the world,_

_As real as it seems, you're only in my dreams."_

There was silence as the entirety of the Great Hall held their breaths, watching the three champions mull over the message left to them.

"This is dramatic," said James after a while, once he was sure the other two weren't going anywhere.

"Zis eez ridiculous!" Dominique flung the parchment back onto the table furiously. "I and Frederick do not know our way around zis school!"

"I do," murmured James, his hand automatically going back to his pocket where, beneath the basilisk fang lay a battered wodge of parchment.

He suddenly came to his senses, perhaps it was the presence of the Marauders' Map that brought him back down to earth, and realized with dawning horror that he and his fellow champions had already wasted about ten of their allotted sixty minutes.

"Let's go!" Frederick, as though he could read James' mind, yelled enthusiastically. The Durmstrang champion raced down the middle of the Great Hall; James, Dominique and the three patronuses following suit.

It was evident that he had no idea where he was going in the way he took an immediate left once he was outside of the hall, sprinting away as though it were a life or death situation.

Dominique and James looked at each other for a moment.

"Well, see you then," the former said awkwardly, climbing the staircase nimbly.

James, instead of moving, took out the Marauders' Map and tapped it with his wand, muttering the incantation to view it hurriedly.

He studied it, subconsciously climbing the staircase too; noticing how most students were in the Great Hall. Only two other dots were scattered on the parchment – Frederick's, who was heading towards the dungeons; and Dominique's, which was moving towards the Divination Tower.

Deciding that should be where he was aiming for, James set off, checking the map every now and again to ensure he was on the right path.

* * *

Dominique, who was indeed fast approaching the Divination Tower, paused for a moment to recall the parchment's message.

'On top of the world,' it had said, and what place was more high up in the school than said tower? It had also read, 'You're only in my dreams', which, really, was what Divination was all about.

She drew her wand as she climbed the last set of stairs, lit it, and looked around the warm Divination room. It was empty. Well, almost empty: three large crystal balls hovered in midair, giving off a gentile glow which bathed the room in a spectacular silver light.

Dominique walked cautiously to the three crystal balls, thinking to herself that it was quite remarkable that she had even got this far, what with not knowing her way around or anything.

She gazed into the nearest ball, and the heat of the room combined with the cloudy infinity of the contents of the crystal ball made her feel quite drowsy. She sunk into the nearest armchair, pale eyes still locked onto the ball, and put her head in her hands to keep her awake. Jacqueline Lejeune's patronus swam around the room gracefully, all the time watching her with knowing eyes.

As Dominique watched the fascinating display of the swirling clouds, a figure appeared inside, faint at first and then getting clearer by every passing second. It was a figure she knew well – one of a tall, broad-chested young man, with vivid green hair and laughing eyes. As she watched him, her pale blond hair falling slowly from its loose ponytail, his mouth moved, speaking words she would never hear.

She squinted, trying her hardest to lip-read, but she only got as far as a few sentences before a loud crash cut off the moment. Ted Lupin waved slowly, descending back into the endless depths of the crystal ball. Dominique turned, annoyed, to the source of the interruption.

James stood at the door, panting, with both wand and Marauders' Map in his hand.

"Hello, Dominique," he said, checking his watch to see the time displayed there. Half of their given hour had gone, and so far James had gotten no closer to his goal than Frederick Poliakoff had.

"'Eet eez simple," Dominique snapped, standing up and staring at her cousin. "We are to go to zee Room of Requirement or whatever: zat eez where eet ends, James."

"Where what ends?" James questioned blankly, looking around Dominique to the three crystal balls.

"Zis task, you blizzering idiot! Now get a move on, out zee door, because if we want any chance of getting anywhere we must work togezzer!"

* * *

"Where's Lily?" Lysander asked his friends, scanning the hall worriedly.

"She's here," said Albus, exchanging a concerned look with Hugo, "isn't she?"

Lysander shook his head, sending his floppy hair flying, and stood up. Albus looked at him with alarm.

"Sit down! She can't have got far; she's probably over at the Ravenclaw Table with Rose or something."

"Can you see her?" Lysander snapped, not waiting for an answer. "I didn't think so. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

"What on earth is he doing?" Hugo muttered, and Albus shook his head, as lost as his friend was. Lysander was walking towards the headmistress, and as the two boys watched she said a few words before sending him away.

"What did she say?"

"McGonagall told me to stay here," said Lysander bitterly. "She said Lily would be fine."

Albus exchanged a knowing glance with Hugo.

"You really like her, don't you?" said Hugo, grinning widely.

"Who, McGonagall?"

"No," he replied. "I meant Lily."

* * *

"Here we are," said James, as he and Dominique reached an empty corridor. "The Room of Requirement."

Dominique glanced around her at the immediate surroundings before stepping back and watching her cousin. James paused momentarily, closed his eyes, and paced past the currently blank wall.

"_I need the place where the thing I'll miss most is hidden ... I need the place where the thing I'll miss most is hidden ... I need the place where the thing I'll miss most is hidden..._"

He opened his eyes. Before him, before the two champions, was an ornate door, heavy looking, but with a powerful force-field around it that suggested very complex magic.

"Do we go een, zen?"

"Looks like it," said James casually, swinging out a hand to open the door.

There was a moment of pure silence, and then both of them were pulled inside by a gushing whirlwind of magic.

"Good grief," James muttered, but Dominique was already walking round the room, looking around in awe.

"What eez eet we have to do?" she inquired, staring back at him in confusion.

James shrugged, pulling a face.

"No idea."

Behind the two champions, the patronuses of the respective heads of schools stood, magnificently, waiting for their pupils to do something.

"You fight for them." A cold, clear voice, which was not unlike Pyotr Vulchanov's, rang out through the room.

"Fight for whom?" Dominique's question was answered a moment later when a loud thump penetrated their eardrums and the bookcases started crashing to the floor.

A large shape, which was not unlike the size of a tree trunk, started heading towards the two champions. It was at least twenty feet tall, with an abnormally large, cracked body.

"It's a giant," Dominique breathed, unaware that she was standing right in its path. James pulled her to safety as a massive foot went down on the exact place she had been standing.

The giant, who the two could now see was sporting a massive dragon hide jacket, was holding three small figures in its tightly clenched hand. One of these figures had vivid green hair.

"I presume," said James casually, ignoring Dominique as she shrieked loudly, "that whatever's in his hand is what we're supposed to be rescuing."

* * *

"What on earth is that?" Phoebe looked up at the ceiling as a series of loud bangs echoed around the Great Hall. Cedric and Mark, from beside her, shrugged simultaneously.

"Who knows," the latter murmured. "It's probably something to do with the champions."

Phoebe exchanged a critical look with Cedric.

"I reckon Poliakoff's killed himself," Mark was now saying. "It wouldn't be the first time, either."

A Hufflepuff second-year, who was listening in on the trio's conversation, coughed pointedly. All three stared at him with raised eyebrows.

"I'm sorry." The Hufflepuff boy did not sound sorry at all. "But I couldn't help noticing that you referred to the champion of Durmstrang Academy as 'already dead'."

"Who are you?" asked Cedric rudely, staring at the small boy with disgust.

"Jesse James," the boy said, smirking proudly. "Who are _you_?"

Cedric stared at Jesse, lost for words at his unexpected confidence.

"It sounds like a warzone up there," Jesse said pleasantly, staring, like Phoebe had been, at the ceiling above.

"Maybe it is a warzone," Mark said softly. "Maybe it is."

* * *

"Take that!" James yelled, jumping around crazily and firing deadly-sounding curses at the giant. Dominique, on the other hand, had been standing perfectly still but muttering incantations under her breath. Together, the giant's power had decreased, and it was slowly rendering itself unconscious.

James reached into his pocket impulsively, drew his basilisk fang into full view of his cousin, threw it, and stabbed the giant in the neck.

"Watch out!" he shouted, as the giant toppled forwards towards him. Perhaps who he was speaking to was the wrong person, however, as Dominique threw herself into him to get him out harm's way.

"_Merci_," he said gratefully, despite his British accent, as the giant crashed to the floor and moved no more.

"Do not zeenk of eet." Dominique clambered to her feet and, once she was sure her cousin had no lasting damage, hurried over to the giant's body. "Ah, zey 'ave survived. Barely."

James stood up, wincing, and followed her.

The giant was clutching, in his greatly oversized hand, three very unconscious people. One was sporting hideously vibrant green hair, making the other two redheads looked visibly dull in comparison.

"Eet eez Teddy Lupin!" Dominique beamed, fit to burst, and began prising the giant's fingers from her friend. James stood back and watched, clutching his ankle, which he was sure he had sprained. "I zeenk we must take zem to zee 'Ospital Wing: zey look flattened."

James nodded, walking over to the Beauxbatons champion, and swung one of Ted's now floppy arms over his shoulder. He struggled under the weight of him, though, causing Dominique to frown.

"James," she said suddenly, and he halted in his tracks. "Are you a weezard or not? Use your wand, eet eez what eet eez zer for."

James nodded, comprehension dawning over him quickly, and pulled out his wand and levitated his relative. Ted was now floating a few feet above the ground, and James hastened to do the same to the other two bodies that lay on the ground. One was Roxanne and the other was–

"Lily," he breathed, staring down at his sister, while his brain wrecked havoc inside his head. Part of him was pleased, hoping that saving his sister would get them to speak again; yet the other side of him was furious – why should he be the one who built the broken bridge between the two siblings?

As though she could read his mind, Dominique said,

"James, eet eez for zee best, she eez your sister and family matters."

He nodded, tenderly picking up Lily's small figure, and proceeded back to the door. Dominique followed him, wafting the other two along with her wand.

"I wonder where Poliakoff's got to," James said out of nowhere, and the other champion murmured her agreement.

* * *

"They've been gone ages," Molly complained, joining her now-boyfriend and his friends further along the table. Lysander clenched his jaw, a pained expression on his face.

"They'll be fine," Hugo said, patting his girlfriend's arm and looking, concerned, at Lysander. "Dominique's got enough sense, I'm sure she'll counteract James' stupidity."

Everybody laughed, perhaps a bit too forcefully. After a moment their laughter stopped, and worry came over them again.

"They'll be fine," Lysander echoed, more to himself than anything, and he thought about the disaster that was sure to happen once Lily awoke and realized her brother, who she currently hated with a burning passion, would miss her more than anything in the world.

Albus was not too concerned about the clear favoritism here – James and Lily had always been best friends, and it would be a relief to see them speaking again.

Silence fell over the four friends once more. Scorpius, from the other side of the Great Hall, was obviously as concerned about Lily's wellbeing as Lysander was, if the worried glances he was sending around the room every five seconds were anything to go by.

* * *

James finished descending the staircase and halted before pushing open the door. From behind him, the patronuses, Dominique, and Ted and Roxanne's floating bodies also stopped. The Beauxbatons champion shot him a questioning look, which he replied with a hesitant smile.

"I just need a minute," he explained, and she indicated agreement.

A few moments passed before James summoned up the courage to step inside the Great Hall. By this point, Dominique had slumped herself against a wall, examining her fingernails in boredom.

"Are we going in, zen?" she asked, straightening up with a newfound interest. James nodded slowly, kicking open the great oak doors with his foot.

It took a moment for the inhabitants of the hall to realise that the two champions were standing there – but once they did, they let out an enormous cheer and the students nearest the doors pushed them in eagerly.

"Oh, thank goodness," whispered Lysander, watching his best friend carry Lily to the front. Scorpius was laughing freely now, once he had realised all of his worry had been for no reason.

"_Sacré bleu_," Dominique muttered half-heartedly as she was thrown recklessly into a Durmstrang student. James, on the other hand, absolutely loved his moment in the limelight. Taking care that his sister didn't get hurt, he even signed a few autographs for some overly enthusiastic first-year girls.

"Well done," McGonagall said to the two teenagers proudly, once the ruckus had died down and the champions had finally reached the front. "But where's Mr Poliakoff?"

"Yes," Pyotr Vulchanov sneered coldly, his eyes accusing them wordlessly. "Where is Frederick?"

"Dunno," James shrugged, paying no attention to the possible threat the Durmstrang headmaster could have given them. "I only ran into Dom, and that was up by the Divination area."

"As you know," Jacqueline Lejeune said frostily, while Dominique beamed from the nickname her cousin had blessed her with. "Zeese patronuses were 'ere for a reason, Vulchanov."

"Have no fear!" The doors to the Great Hall burst open once more, stopping Pyotr Vulchanov from retorting, revealing Frederick Poliakoff standing there boldly, bloody cuts littering his face.

There was silence as the inhabitants of the hall took in his battered appearance, before a scrawny looking Beauxbatons boy began applauding loudly.

"Please, you don't have to applaud ..." Frederick began to protest weakly, but the ovation reached such an enormous din over such a short time that his words were lost into the air.

"Bravo, Poliakoff!" Fred yelled from the Gryffindor table, to smatterings of laughter.

"Why are zey so 'appy?" Dominique leaned towards James, her face a picture of confusion. "'Ee 'as not even got 'eez person!"

James shrugged, as puzzled as his cousin was, but the applause stopped as quickly as it had started.

"Why were you all clapping at me?" Frederick muttered to the nearest student: a Ravenclaw girl with firm blonde curls in her hair. "And who are you?" he added on second thoughts.

"Because you failed, Poliakoff," the girl said sharply. "That's why. I'm Jessica, but it's not really any of your business if the rumours are true."

"What rumours?" Frederick asked, bewildered.

"The ones about you dating that Roxanne chick."

He nodded slowly, Jessica raising an eyebrow mutely, before he caught sight of his fellow champions watching him.

"Uh oh, here he comes," said James, as Frederick gave an enormous grin and jogged over to them; the students all taking their seats once more. Dominique laughed.

"Settle down!" McGonagall took her place up on stage and turned to her pupils and guests. "That task was rather interesting, and it gave you all a chance to see where the champions' loyalties lie." All eyes turned to Frederick, who was the only one not to have rescued his friend. "But moving on," the headmistress continued quickly, "in first place we have Miss Weasley, who showed great courage and determination."

Everybody applauded for Dominique, who went as red as James' hair.

"In second place - Mr Potter," The students clapped again. "And in third place lies Mr Poliakoff, who did not rescue his prize."

Frederick shook his head wearily as jeers came from a few students. Dominique was protesting forcefully about coming in first place, 'when eet was really James 'oo did zee 'ard work!"; and James was soaking up the celebration big headedly.

"Party in the common room tonight," Fred accosted James with the help of Lysander, as the two boys waited for the Hogwarts champion once the Great Hall had emptied.

"I have something I need to do first," said James. "I think I need to visit Lily in the Hospital Wing and sort things out."

Professor McGonagall, after the students had left the hall, had pointedly told the three champions that their friends would be regaining consciousness in the Hospital Wing. Dominique had already hurried up there to sit with Ted, and Frederick had mumbled something about 'doing it later', whilst looking wistfully at the back of a particular blonde haired girl.

"I understand," said Lysander, inwardly pleased that his best friend was planning on making up with Lily. Fred just stared between them both perplexedly. "Do you want me to come with you later?"

James shrugged non-committally.

"I'd rather you didn't," he said finally. "It might be a bit of an awkward moment, you know. But you could, er, visit Dom."

Lysander knew what his friend meant – for him to be on hand just in case Lily got really annoyed with her brother. And visiting Dominique would be the perfect cover story – he was planning on doing that anyway, to see where their relationship stood.

Lysander had given much thought to the whole Dominique situation over the past few weeks, and despite her being intelligent, beautiful and well sought after by most of the male population, Lysander had the feeling their friendship was just that - one with no romantic attachments. They had barely spoken outside of the Yule Ball, and Hugo's remark about him liking Lily had really hit him hard.

Lily, as far as he was aware, was still with Scorpius, and the last he had heard was that they were planning on spending Valentine's Day together; a festive holiday that was normally celebrated by James, Lily and himself raiding the Hogwarts kitchens and moping about how they were going to 'die single'. James was probably going to spend it with Rose this year, so once again Lysander couldn't help feeling like he was, actually, going to die single. He could have invited Dominique to Hogsmeade, but that would go against all his newfound principles. And to him, principles were important.

"Okay," he sighed, and together he, Fred and James walked out of the hall. "I'm only doing this for you, though."

"I thought you liked Dom?"

Lysander didn't answer, and James took that as a 'no'.

* * *

"Zey are starting to wake up," said Dominique, as the three boys entered the Hospital Wing. She was sitting at Ted's side, tenderly holding his hand in hers and looking at her friend with an expression so soft that it looked out of place next to Ted's ruggedness.

"Cool," said Lysander simply, and after throwing a concerned glance towards Lily's bed, sat down to general surprise next to Dominique.

James stood by the door, awkwardly, staring fiercely at his sister.

"Don't just stand there," Roxanne, who was the first one to wake up, looked around her. "Where the hell is Poliakoff?"

Fred grinned, and after mumbling hurried apologies to James, walked over to his twin sister and sat on the edge of her bed.

"No, I'm serious. Where is he?"

"Lily?" James whispered, moving closer to his sister as the twins started conversing, their laughter penetrating the silence. He sat down beside her, taking his sibling's appearance in.

She looked tired, her normally porcelain skin looking even paler in the dim lights from the ceiling. Her red hair was escaping from the loose knot it had been in, and her eyes were closed, a peaceful expression on her face.

James softened considerably, a warm rush of affection flooding through his veins for his sister. As he watched, her eyes opened slowly.

"Hello, Lee," he said, smiling despite himself. She glanced at him with shock, her brown eyes scanning his face.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, attempting to be impolite but failing through her tiredness.

"I was the one who rescued you."

Lily looked questioningly towards Dominique, who was brushing Ted's hair out of his eyes tenderly. Lysander, from beside them, glanced over. Once noticing Lily staring at him, he blushed fiercely and averted his gaze.

"Yeah," said James helplessly. "Dominique got Ted, and Poliakoff was _supposed_ to rescue Roxanne."

"Supposed?" Lily asked, and in that moment she almost smiled.

"He failed miserably," James corrected. "Dunno what he was thinking, you hostages weren't even down in the dungeons anyway."

His sister let out a laugh, before stopping herself and glaring down at the bedcovers.

"Sorry," her brother said finally, "for everything. It was my fault Rose cursed Scorpius, and it's your choice who you go out with. I should have apologized sooner, but I didn't."

Lily glanced around with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry too ... But it really is all your fault."

James snickered, and from then on the two were friends again. Roxanne's issues with Frederick Poliakoff, however, were just starting.


	12. Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was two days following the Second Task, and there was an unforeseen surprise waiting for the students when they went down to the Great Hall that morning.

A Hogsmeade visit had already been planned, and as all three former hostages had fully recovered, both Lily and Roxanne were planning on going. Ted Lupin had left Hogwarts the previous night, much to Dominique's dismay.

"Holy ..." James breathed, staring around the Great Hall disgustedly as he and Lysander headed down to breakfast.

The entire room was transformed. The walls were elaborately decorated with lurid pink flowers; heart shaped confetti was falling fast from the ceiling, causing a blizzard near the Slytherin end of the hall; owls were swooping through the air to deliver Valentines to selected students; and Pyotr Vulchanov was standing, staring at the scene before him with a sickly smile upon his face, at the front of the hall behind a podium. His robes, may it be added, had turned a hideous pink colour, and his beard was ornately entwined with live butterflies.

"James!" Lily yelled, her face shining happily as an owl landed directly in front of her. "Look out!"

Lysander ducked as a large flock of birds headed towards the Hogwarts champion, each of them carrying a large card. James, however, was not so lucky. One large beast hit him in the face, and the others all landed on various parts of his body, so he finally looked like he was wearing a massive cloak of feathers.

"Well in," Lysander grinned, ignoring James' muffled retorts as the two boys headed over to the Gryffindor table.

"Someone's popular," Hugo remarked, as they sat down beside him and Lily. His place was littered with the remains of an envelope, and Molly was blushing furiously a few seats down as a tawny owl landed directly in her breakfast cereal. "What about you, Lysander? Have you got any?"

Lysander shook his head, frowning worriedly as he pondered over the likely possibility of being the only student in the entire hall to not receive a Valentine. He had sent one, after all. No, he had actually sent two – one to James, as a joke, to see how he would respond; and the other to a girl he had had his pale grey eye on for quite some time.

"This can't be good," muttered Lily, as Pyotr Vulchanov raised his hands for silence, still smiling coyly.

"Good morning!" he said, waving his wand so the enchanted ceiling gave way to a beautiful sunny day. "I hope you all like my little surprise!"

Nobody answered – in stark contrast to the liveliness before; now, everybody looked rather afraid.

"Oh, get on wiz eet," Jacqueline Lejeune snapped frostily, a grumpy expression upon her face. She, like nearly every other adult sat in the hall – with the exception of Professor Longbottom, the Herbology teacher, whose area was mounted with pink cards and candy from grateful students – was not impressed by Pyotr Vulchanov's antics.

"I will, my dear," he replied graciously, and Madame Lejeune was so taken aback she almost missed what he said next. "It appears that many of you marvellous students are afraid –" he gasped melodramatically, throwing a hand to his forehead "– of _love_."

Lysander spluttered, went a very deep red, and started choking on his pumpkin juice. Lily had to thump him on his back, which just made his face flush more.

"No," a Hufflepuff boy named Mark shouted out to the Durmstrang headmaster, "we're just afraid of _you_!"

There was a smattering of laughter before Pyotr Vulchanov raised his hands for silence once more.

"Eager though I know all of you are, when it comes to _love_, most of you spectacular teenagers do not do anything about it." Hugo stared pointedly at Lysander. "So today, with the help of my magical butterflies –" And from Pyotr Vulchanov's beard came a horde of butterflies, each of them fluttering over the stunned students "– you too can send your loved one a Valentine. Let them know how you feel," he cried, "for you may not get another chance!"

* * *

"Oh, brother," said Lysander, as he, James and the twins walked towards their common room. "Not _more _Valentines for James." A ridiculous amount of butterflies flew towards the Hogwarts champion, and the other three had to duck for fear of being injured.

"You're just jealous," James replied loftily, summoning the butterflies into his rucksack with his wand. "Oh, Voldemort, there's more. Watch out."

Fred gave an unusually feminine shriek as a flock of owls swooped down to them, which made Roxanne laugh hysterically. Lysander was about to retort when he was dragged into a small alcove in the corridor.

"What the –"

"Shut up," Lily snapped, peering around the wall to make sure her brother and friends were distracted. "Those owls have been arranged by me, I thought this would work."

"I presume it did?" Lysander said, making to go back to his friends. Lily put a hand on his chest forcefully.

"Yes, it did. Lysander, I have something for you."

She rummaged in her rucksack for a while before extracting a slightly battered envelope.

"This is for you," she said casually, and Lysander took it suspiciously.

"This isn't one of Fred and Roxanne's concoctions is it?"

Lily shook her head.

"It's for you," she repeated, "and it's from me. I just thought you might ... like it."

He was ready to reply, his blonde hair that flopped over his face saving him the embarrassment of being found to be blushing, but before he could say anything she had vanished.

* * *

"Lily, stop!" Dominique ran down the corridor towards her cousin, her pale blonde hair flying out at all angles. Lily turned and watched her race towards her, the corridors deserted. "Zer eez an 'Ogsmeade visit today, I was wondering if you and Scorpius would come wiz me and Lysander."

Lily thought for a moment. Yes, she _was_ planning to go to Hogsmeade with Scorpius, but she wasn't entirely sure James would let his best friend go with them. Even worse, what if James asked Lysander to spy on them? She doubted he would stoop that low, but with James and Scorpius you could never really be sure. No, it just wasn't a risk she was willing to take.

"Sorry, Dominique," she said, starting to walk in the direction of the Slytherin common room again. "I don't really think that's a good idea."

Dominique pulled a face and grabbed her arm, not giving up.

"'Eet can't be zat 'orrific," she said, and seeing Lily waver, she put more force into her voice, until finally she wasn't sure who she was talking to the most – herself or her cousin. "What's zee worst zat could 'appen?"

* * *

"Well, _this_ is awkward."

Lysander, Scorpius and Lily were all sitting at a secluded table in the Three Broomsticks, Dominique having bailed on them earlier after an important call came from her mother by owl.

Other couples were there, too – the trio could hear the twins' loud laughter, accompanied with Frederick's deep voice; Scorpius had a direct view to Hugo and Molly, who were kissing furiously, and James and Rose, who were sitting by the window gazing into each others' eyes sickeningly. Everybody in the Three Broomsticks was on a date – even Jacqueline Lejeune was standing, blushing furiously, at the bar with Pyotr Vulchanov, who was still wearing his lurid pink robes.

Lysander, who had spoken, was not very happy with Dominique. Suffice to say, after she had left, the three students had sat in awkward silence, and try as he might he could not ignore the looks Scorpius and Lily were exchanging.

"Scorpius," he said suddenly, and both looked at him in surprise. "Did you get any Valentines?"

The Slytherin boy shrugged offhandedly.

"Two," he said. "One from Lily –" he gave his girlfriend a soppy smile "– and the other from someone else, I don't know who."

Lily didn't look at all put out to discover Scorpius had a mystery admirer, on the contrary, she brightened visibly.

"What about you, Lysander?" she asked, while staring at Scorpius as though he were the only person left in the universe.

"Oh, I got one Valentine," Lysander replied testily. "It was from you, in fact."

Lily's cheeks turned pink as both of them waited to see how Scorpius reacted. There was silence for a moment, before the fifth-year boy stood up self-consciously.

"I think I'll just go and get another drink," he said, avoiding their eyes.

He walked away, his pale hands clenched into fists by his side, and Lily prayed that there wouldn't be another fight.

"What did you do that for?" she hissed as soon as he was out of earshot, turning to Lysander furiously.

"I don't know," Lysander replied, wincing as her gaze pierced his thoughts. "You asked me a question, so I answered it."

"You didn't have to tell him I sent it!" she cried, jabbing her finger in the air to make a point. "Now what's he going to think?"

"It's your problem, I didn't ask for you to give me a Valentine."

"It wasn't a Valentine! I only sent you it because I felt sorry for you!"

"You felt sorry for me?" Lysander repeated, standing up angrily. "You felt _sorry_ for me?"

Lily flushed slightly, staring down at the table.

"What did you think it was for?" she said testily, looking up to see his face.

He stared down at her as though he had never seen her before, his face pinched with anger.

"It doesn't matter," he said, his voice dropping to a dull undertone, and he sat down again. "Finish your coffee, or it'll get cold."

Lily obediently raised the coffee mug to her lips, all the time staring at him as though she was trying to figure something out.

Scorpius appeared, interrupting her train of thought, and now that he had let out his irritation he looked like a new person.

"Come on, Lee," he said happily, giving Lysander a wide smile. "I want to show you something beautiful!"

"You mean from a mirror?" said Lysander unintentionally, but thankfully he was not heard. Lily glanced down at him after she stood up to join her boyfriend.

"James is over there with Rose," she reminded her brother's best friend. "They're just talking now; you could join them if you want."

As they walked away, Lysander sighed heavily, letting his head fall down into his hands. No, he did not want to join another happy couple; at the moment, he just wanted to be alone.

* * *

"I bet Pyotr Vulchanov is up to something," Albus muttered, as he and Helena slowly made their way through the village of Hogsmeade. "He's been acting rather suspicious, when you take in the fact he hadn't properly smiled once to a student until today."

Helena shrugged, her hand entwined with his, and watched as her younger brother, Cedric, sat down on a bench with Phoebe Hill and another Hufflepuff boy called Mark.

"I bet he's trying to cheat his way up to winning the Triwizard Tournament," said Albus. "You saw the way he was looking at Beauxbatons' headmistress."

Helena, who privately thought the two adults would soon become the next 'power couple', stayed silent as her boyfriend ranted on.

"If I was him –" ("Thank goodness you're not," she muttered) "– I would be up to something. You can just tell, with Pyotr Vulchanov, that he's evil. Madame Lejeune, on the other hand, is far too sensible to succumb into his clutches."

"Too late," Helena remarked, as the two adults exited the Three Broomsticks, each of them looking equally love drunk.

Albus groaned, worrying about the future welfare of his brother in the tournament, and just knew that something bad would happen, be it in the Third Task, next week, or on the last day of school.

* * *

"You should go and see Poliakoff," Fred told his sister, as they and the other single Gryffindors sat mindlessly in the common room. Roxanne was the only one in there with a boyfriend, but said boyfriend had abandoned her that morning to go to the library.

"If I had a boyfriend," Lucy hiccuped, "I would go and see him." She had been crying for the past half hour, ever since Albus arrived back from Hogsmeade, Helena in tow, and completely ignored her. "You don't deserve him," Fred had remarked kindly, but that had only made her cry harder. "He doesn't even know you exist, it's not like you're best friends or anything." Unfortunately, Fred had realised too late that he was only carving the wand he would soon Avada Kedavra himself with, so stopped and instead had laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Frederick's probably busy," Roxanne said, shrugging it off lightly. "I wouldn't want to disturb him."

"I'll go and 'disturb him'," Fred muttered darkly, his words not having the same intention his sister's had had. "If he didn't see me on Valentine's Day, I'd want to give him a piece of my mind."

Roxanne shrugged, pushing away the notion of heading down to the library; but her feet had different ideas and she stood up, surprising even herself.

"See you soon," she muttered to her brother and Lucy, awkwardly heading out of the common room. She heard their replies faintly through the wall, already walking towards the place she knew the Durmstrang champion would be.

"Perhaps we should go with her," Fred said suddenly to Lucy, from inside the room. He stood up, offered her his hand for support, and together the two Gryffindors headed in the same path Fred's twin sister had taken.

The pair ambled down the staircase, stopping only outside the fourth floor on which the library was located.

"After you," Fred said gallantly, holding the door open for Lucy before following her inside. Once he realised what was going on in the library, he instantly regretted entering.

Roxanne was standing in the middle of the room, staring theatrically at Frederick, who was bent over a Ravenclaw girl. As she watched, Frederick made the mistake of looking up.

"Hello," he said pleasantly, standing and holding his arms out to his girlfriend. Roxanne ignored him.

"What," she said icily, "do you think you're doing?"

The Ravenclaw girl looked uncomfortable; and she wasn't the only one – over by the door Lucy and Fred were trying to avert their gazes, but curiosity had already drawn them in.

"It's Valentine's Day," the Durmstrang champion said, shrugging lightly. Roxanne glared at him with the look she only reserved for first-year Slytherins.

"Precisely," she said, her dark eyes cold. "It's Valentine's Day. So why are you in here with another girl?"

Her tone was so harsh that a few Gryffindor boys looked over at them from their 'homework': charming the library shelves to drop books randomly onto passing students.

"I was just asking her about what she was doing," Frederick replied indignantly, and from his side Jessica, the Ravenclaw, nodded slightly.

"Which was?"

"She was writing her address on my hand," Frederick stupidly held his left hand out for Roxanne to see.

Lucy groaned softly, shaking her head without realising it.

"It's over," Roxanne said suddenly, and her twin brother, from the doorway, glared at Frederick furiously.

"It's what?" Frederick frowned in confusion, not entirely sure on what he was hearing.

"You and me," Roxanne said. "We're over. Take Miss Ravenclaw, here, and have a nice life."

Jessica flushed, looking helplessly at the Durmstrang champion. Frederick was staring after his ex-girlfriend's retreating back with an expression that made him seem way more vulnerable than he was.

"Hello," Roxanne said to her brother and Lucy, as she met them at the doors. Her eyes were shining, and at first Fred thought she was crying, but closer inspection revealed otherwise – she was laughing.

Lucy's face twitched uncontrollably; she wanted to help her friend's sister, but she had no idea how to cope with someone who had just dumped their boyfriend and was happy about it.

"Who cares about him, I didn't like him that much anyway."

Fred patted his sister on the back before swinging his arm over her shoulders and pulling her away. Lucy looked back at Frederick and Jessica, both of whom were now talking quietly. She grimaced, and followed the twins out of the door.

* * *

"Don't look," Scorpius ordered, as he led Lily through the Forbidden Forest. She did as he said, and carefully followed him around a few trees. They stopped, and he let go of her, walking a few feet away.

She opened her eyes and found herself standing in a clearing. It was small, perfectly round, and filled with violet, yellow, and soft white wildflowers. Somewhere nearby, she could hear the bubbling music of a stream. The sun was directly overhead, filling the circle with a haze of buttery sunshine. Lily walked slowly, awestruck, through the soft grass, swaying flowers, and warm, gilded air.

"It's beautiful," she breathed, and turned to see her boyfriend staring at her.

"Yes, you are," he replied, shrugging casually before walking forwards to take her hand. They gazed into each others' faces for a long moment before he slowly leant down and kissed her.

A loud commotion by a hedge broke the two apart – Lily turned with irritation to see Lysander sprawled on the ground, twigs sticking up in his pale hair and leaves covering his clothes.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she spat out, letting go of her boyfriend.

"I fell," Lysander said unnecessarily.

"I can see that. I meant, what are you doing _here_?"

"I was taking a walk, looking for you, because –"

"Because?" Scorpius prompted kindly, as Lysander blushed and stopped speaking. "Lysander?"

"I had to give you something, Lily. I remembered as soon as you had left the Three Broomsticks, so I had to come after you."

"Then go ahead and give it to me, instead of standing there like an idiot."

Lysander nudged the ground with his foot, staring at the floor; the debris still over his body.

"It doesn't matter anymore," he mumbled. "You're with Scorpius, like you always wanted. I'm happy for you."

Lily sighed. This, in her opinion, was such a waste of time.

"What does that have to do with you?" Scorpius asked Lysander softly, a strange look upon his face as though he knew something Lily didn't.

Lysander looked him right in the face.

"It doesn't have anything to do with me," he said in a carefully measured voice. "But it has everything to do with James. If you break her heart, you'll have him to answer to."

"Is this a threat?" Lily glared at her brother's best friend with annoyance. Scorpius put a hand on her shoulder to stop her from doing anything hasty.

"It's not a threat … it's a promise."


	13. This Love Is Difficult, But It's Real

Since the events of Valentine's Day, Pyotr Vulchanov had turned into a completely different person. Gone were the days of sneering at Hogwarts students as they sat in the Great Hall; he no longer looked down on everybody as though they were something unpleasant he had stood on; and the cold sneers were now as stranger to him as the old Pyotr Vulchanov had been to the students. He frequently roamed the corridors of Hogwarts, handing out warm smiles to everyone who even briefly glanced his way; more often than not heading towards the staff room to visit his new love interest, Jacqueline Lejeune.

His behaviour, in short, frankly frightened Hugo and the other students.

"It's unnatural," Lily snapped as her cousin began talking about it at breakfast one morning. "He must think we're stupid to fall for it."

"I don't know," said Lysander uncertainly. "He seems pretty genuine. What do you think, James?"

James, who had been nodding off over a bowl of cornflakes, gave a start and looked at his best friend groggily.

"What – who's dead?"

"No one's dead, James," Lily said scornfully as her brother drew his wand melodramatically. "We were just talking about Pyotr Vulchanov's disturbing transformation."

"It's genuine," Lysander argued as James stared at the Durmstrang headmaster from across the Hall. Pyotr Vulchanov was leaning towards McGonagall with a plate of toast and a kind smile. James and Lily shuddered simultaneously.

"He's definitely not grinning," James said as he turned back to his cereal, "he's baring his teeth."

"He is _not_," said Lysander helplessly. "I'm sorry, but just because you won't accept that people can change ..." He trailed off unintentionally as Scorpius appeared behind Lily's shoulder. The Slytherin boy asked her something and Lily stood up, laughing, and the two left the Great Hall after bidding farewell to their friends.

"You were saying?" said James, as though the interruption had never happened. But Lysander had been struck mute; try as he might he simply could not get a word out. Hugo patted his arm sympathetically and James stared at him, not catching on.

"If this were a movie ..." Hugo sighed sadly, the rest of his sentence lingering hungrily in the air.

"If what was a movie?" James asked, glancing around for help. Nobody answered him – Lysander was still mute and Hugo was gazing towards the doors.

"Scorpius Malfoy," the latter murmured, and for a moment everybody was confused. "Over there."

He pointed to the doors, and sure enough Scorpius was racing back towards them with the average speed of a Bludger.

"What does he want?" Lysander said, once he noticed Lily was conspicuously absent from Scorpius' side. His voice had returned, something that he was rather thankful for.

Scorpius was gesturing desperately to him and mouthing something, but neither Lysander nor the other two boys could make it out.

At last Hugo understood.

"He wants you," he said to Lysander, as Scorpius hurried past the Hufflepuff table. "Go!"

Lysander was pushed out of his chair by James and he slowly made his way towards the Slytherin boy.

* * *

Roxanne missed breakfast that morning. Instead, she made her way down to the frosty courtyard, the pain of losing Frederick fresh in her mind. She didn't understand her actions of the previous day when she had found him with that Ravenclaw girl – if she had known it would hurt this much today she would never have laughed.

The hardest part was seeing him as she walked down the Grand Staircase – it was just a glimpse, but it was enough to make her heart leap into her throat before it fell with a thud onto the hard stony floor. He was on his own, something Roxanne was admittedly pleased to see.

Right now, as she sunk onto a cold step at the edge of the courtyard, she wished he was missing her as much as she was him. She would never go back to him, she knew that much, but she hated to think that their shared memories would mean nothing to him.

She cried. She cried her heart out, right there in the open, not caring of her fearless reputation going up in flames. She cried for Frederick, for her heartbreak, and for every single person who had once lost someone they had loved.

And then, as quickly as it had started, it stopped. Instead she sat there, trembling and rocking back and forth, her knees pushing into her eyes until little stars appeared there.

A hand touched her shoulder – for one crazy moment she thought it was Frederick; but then the person spoke and Roxanne noticed that their voice sounded softer, more pronounced, than Frederick's ever did.

She looked up and into the face of an angel.

"It'll be okay," the person was saying as Roxanne rubbed her watery eyes hard and focused in on them. "It'll get better."

They noticed her gaze and gave a start.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to alarm y-y-you."

They had a nervous stutter. The thought made Roxanne smile – she once had a stutter, a few years ago, before her twin brother had gotten sick of it and made her see a speech therapist.

"Who are you?" she asked, cutting across their hurried apologies.

"I u-understand if y-you – what? Oh, I'm Jack Newton."

He smiled, a beautiful gesture that revealed a set of straight, white teeth; his deep olive eyes reminded Roxanne of someone, but she couldn't think whom. Jack's chestnut hair curved gracefully around his warm diamond-shaped face, the ends just skimming his shoulders. His carefully pressed Gryffindor uniform correctly suggested he took more pride in his appearance than the rest of his house; and from his half-opened rucksack Roxanne could see a vivid orange ball, roughly the size of a Quaffle, squashed in above his books.

Jack saw what she was looking at and grinned wider.

"Basketball," he said, as a way of explanation, but to Roxanne he may as well have been speaking another language.

"Excuse me?"

"The ball – it's for a popular Muggle sport called basketball. Like Quidditch, but just with the scoring part."

"I see," said Roxanne, although she did not see at all. "So do you play … basketball?"

Jack nodded.

"Well, you'll have to teach me sometime, yeah?"

"Sounds like a plan," Jack smiled again. Roxanne noticed his olive eyes crinkled slightly around the edges when he did so.

"I'll look forward to it."

* * *

"It's about Lily," Scorpius said hesitantly, and with those three words Lysander was instantly hooked. "We're not – I'm not … we don't connect as well as we used to."

Lysander made a non-committal gesture, not sure what he was getting at.

"I was wondering whether you could help me."

He considered this for a moment, weighing up the options. He could either help Scorpius or –

"Tell me what to do."

Scorpius considered him in surprise.

"Really? I thought – I mean, it's you. It's Lily."

"She deserves to be happy," Lysander shrugged, blushing furiously at the idea Scorpius was suggesting. "She likes you a lot, and I reckon she'd be upset if you ended it because you couldn't 'connect' with her as much."

This was the longest sentence Scorpius had ever heard Lysander say to him, so he bit back the reply he had and instead focused on the matter at hand.

"I was wondering if you could tell me things about her. Things that only you would know."

"What makes you think I know stuff about her?"

"You grew up with her family. You've known her all her life, so I assumed –"

"– that I'd know every single thing about her. Why don't you ask Rose? She'll be more help than me."

"If I wanted to speak to Rose, I'd have gone to Rose," Scorpius said reasonably. "I'm not asking for a minute by minute account of her life, I'm just asking for a few details. Surely you can help me with that? After all, you _did _say you wanted Lily to be happy."

Lysander couldn't argue with that. He knew the times when he was beaten. And now was one of those times.

* * *

"Hugo, can you come here a minute?"

Hugo, who had just got up to leave for his lessons, paused and turned back to James, who was lounging across the Gryffindor table as though he owned it.

Fred, who had recently joined the two boys, grinned wickedly into his goblet of pumpkin juice.

"I have something for you." James held out a small telescope, its bronze surface glinting in the sunlight coming from the enchanted ceiling. Hugo took it hesitantly, staring at his cousin all the while as though there was even the vaguest possibility he was up to no good. Judging by Fred's muffled giggles, neither of the seventh-years were. "I know you like Astronomy, so I figured you'd want this. It's amazing; you can really see stars."

Fred's laughter grew more prominent, and he had to bury himself in his juice to hide the wide grin that was spread across his face. James, however, was staring at Hugo innocently as though this act of generosity was perfectly normal.

Hugo smiled his thanks, and, to test the telescope out, pressed it to his eye and aimed for the ceiling. A loud bang and a puff of dark smoke covered him from view; he screamed; then the smog cleared enough from the three of them to see a small fist retracting back into the telescope.

"'Really see stars,'" he quoted, picking up a spoon from the table and raising it to his face to see the damage. "Very funny – WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY FACE?"

Both Fred and James burst out laughing as Hugo dropped the spoon and stared at them with horror.

"It's not funny!" he wailed, clutching his bruised eye and then wincing with the fresh waves of pain this brought on.

"It is," James said fairly, his laughter subsiding. "It really is."

Fred nodded his agreement, gasping for breath through the hysterics that were controlling him.

"I HATE YOU!" Hugo shrieked, and a group of Beauxbatons boys who had stopped to watch gave him a disgusted look. "Not you, I meant – JAMES, FRED, HOW COULD YOU? YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE – "

"Love what, Hugo?" James asked innocently, not fazed at all by Hugo's outburst. "Your face? But surely your telescope only made _good _improvements."

"MINE?" Hugo yelled, throwing the little telescope back at his cousins with surprising force. "IT'S NOT MINE, JAMES, AND NEITHER ARE YOU!"

There was a silence as everybody in hearing range digested this statement, the Beauxbatons boys sniggered, and Hugo flushed scarlet.

"Er, I hate to break it to you," said James, looking as though Christmas had come early, "but I never was yours to begin with. I wonder what Molly will say when she hears you've been hiding secret admiration for –"

"That's not what I meant and you know it," snapped Hugo with as much dignity as he could muster. "It was _supposed_ to sound impressive. Not ... _suggestive_."

James raised his eyebrows pointedly, enjoying every minute of watching his younger cousin squirm. Hugo pulled a rather childish face at him, Fred, and the Beauxbatons boys and then flounced away haughtily.

"He has anger issues," Fred explained to the Beauxbatons students, sighing heavily.

"Ah, eet eez rarzzer clear," said one, the same boy who had winked at Lily all that time ago in the library. "I zeenk 'ee must see a zerapist."

"I think you're right," said James sadly. "He just never learns, does he?"

* * *

"Lessons are so boring," Lily complained, as she and Scorpius walked down the stairs from the Gryffindor Tower. The former was going to Herbology in Greenhouse 3 whereas the latter was due in Care of Magical Creatures. "Why can't we leave, too?"

"Probably because neither of us are in seventh year," Scorpius offered, grinning at his girlfriend.

Lily scowled at him, before the look on Scorpius' face got the best of her and she started laughing too.

"I love you, Lily."

She stopped laughing and abruptly dropped the books she was carrying on the floor. Scorpius had a stunned expression on his face as though he couldn't believe what he had just said, either.

"What?" Lily breathed, her fallen books forgotten. Scorpius gulped audibly.

"You heard me," he said after a long pause, his eyes roaming the staircases for something to look at that wasn't her.

"I'm sorry," Lily said sadly, sounding like she meant it. "But –"

* * *

Lysander tediously climbed the stairs up to his common room, his Muggle earphones blasting music into his ears. He had a free period now and was planning on spending it in front of the fireplace, in the common room, revising for his upcoming NEWTs.

Lily and Scorpius were up ahead – he stopped and took his earphones out. They couldn't see him, but without the distraction of _Remus and the Lupins_ he could hear every word they said.

"I love you, Lily."

Lysander paused, mindlessly moving out of the way as a first-year Hufflepuff raced past him. He surely hadn't heard – had he? The first-year's footsteps drowned out Lily's reply, and Lysander could only hope she hadn't said what he dreaded her saying.

"You heard me."

Scorpius sounded agitated, uncomfortable. So Lily wasn't giving in to his declaration just yet, Lysander thought with a rush of well-needed relief.

"I'm sorry, but –"

Lysander strained his ears as hard as he could, desperate not to miss anything again.

"– I don't love you."

He winced, imagining Scorpius' heart dropping to the bottom of his chest like his had done when Scorpius had first said those certain three words to Lily.

"I'm just not ready for anything like that," Lily said pleadingly, staring at Scorpius with a pained expression.

"Yeah, I understand," said the latter in a voice quite unlike his own. "It's fine."

"Scorpius –"

Lysander had heard enough. Turning around, he did the thing he should have done a lot earlier and made his way back down the staircase, his head swimming.

So Scorpius loved Lily – that much was obvious, the way he had talked about her before gave Lysander the distinct impression that their relationship was on a deeper level than others. Lily, on the other hand – Lysander didn't know what to make of that exactly. One side of him felt Scorpius' pain, having listened to him talk about Lily just moments before, watching his face light up whenever he mentioned her name ... The other half of him, however small it was, was pleased with Lily's reaction.

Lysander pushed these thoughts away, refusing to go down that road. She was his best friend's sister, and if James wasn't happy with Scorpius dating Lily ... it would be nothing towards the hatred Lysander was sure to receive if he made a move.

No, for now, things were perhaps better left alone.

* * *

"What happened to _you_?"

Lysander, having entered the common room, had a perfect vision of Hugo rubbing his bruised eye painfully.

"Punching telescope," Hugo muttered in reply, motioning for Lysander to join him beside the fireplace. "It was James and Fred."

It would have been funny if Lysander hadn't just witnessed the scene with Scorpius and Lily.

"That's why I'm not going to lessons," stated Hugo conversationally, before a thought occurred to him hat made him look at Lysander differently. "What's wrong with you?"

Now, Lysander was not usually one for gossip, but in this state of mind he freely relayed what he had just seen with the air of one who had just seen their best friend die.

"Heartbreak," Hugo nodded understandably. "Happens to the best of us, I must say." He patted his friend's arm comfortingly.

"I'm not heartbroken!" Lysander burst out, wrenching his arm away in protest, but the deep flush creeping up his face suggested otherwise.

"Of course not," said Hugo, staring at him as though he were mad. "Of _course_ you're not heartbroken."

"I'm not," said Lysander dully, looking down at the floor. "Scorpius is, don't you reckon?"

Hugo shrugged, taken aback at Lysander's sudden enthusiasm towards the subject.

"I – well, I suppose so – but –"

"That's what I thought. Anyway, you should get to class, your eye's looking much better now."

"I think I will." Hugo stood up, looking at Lysander knowingly. "But once you've finished crying, make sure you don't rub your eyes, or they'll be all red."

"What – I won't – why would I cry – Hugo!"

But Hugo had left, the portrait door swinging shut with a satisfied creak; and there was nothing for Lysander to do but to head up to his dormitory and fetch his textbooks to revise from.

* * *

"Rose, I was wondering –"

Rose looked up from the book she was reading – _The Dark Forces: A Guide To Self-Protection – _to find James standing directly in front of her holding his broomstick.

"Oh, hello, James."

"Hi. I was wondering whether you wanted to come and play Quidditch with me ... I haven't played in a while, I've been too busy with the Triwizard Tournament ... The twins are up for it, too."

"I'm reading," Rose snapped, burying herself back in her book once more. Admittedly the prospect of playing Quidditch with James was appealing, but she had her OWLs fast approaching and was supposed to be using her free periods to revise in.

"But Rose, you have all day to study!"

"Precisely," said Rose, not taking her eyes off the text before her.

James just looked at her, not entirely sure how that added up.

"We'll revise with you later?" he offered, knowing full well that the actual chance of Fred and Roxanne willingly picking up a book to study from was ridiculously slim. As though she could read his mind, Rose made a scornful sound in response.

"Yeah, that I'd like to see."

"Well, this may be your chance!" said James, holding out his arms and grinning. "Please, Rose ..."

"All right, fine." Rose gave in, shutting her book exasperatedly. "But Roxanne will be paired with me, or I won't play."

* * *

"TAKE THAT!" Fred yelled, swinging his bat at an oncoming Bludger and sending it spinning towards Rose, who was speeding past him, chasing the Snitch. His aim was perfect – she went spiraling into the stands where Lily, Scorpius and – grudgingly – Lysander was sitting, before she got control of her broom once more and flew back upwards.

James was still circling the Quidditch pitch – he knew full well Fred had been planning on hitting Rose with that Bludger, so sacrificed a potential win for his safety.

Roxanne, like James, was also circling the pitch, but she had other motives – every single Bludger her twin brother hit at her teammate she caught in the rebound and sent them back at him. The game was getting so rough the end of Fred's broom had actually been ripped off from a particularly ferocious hit from his sister; James had a nasty lump growing on the back of his head from where Rose had pushed him into the goalposts; and both Scorpius and Lysander were holding out their hands in the hope Lily would take one of them. Needless to say, she hadn't.

"Did you see that?" she cried excitedly, after Roxanne sped towards James and pushed him right off his broomstick. Neither of the boys answered – both of their faces were ghostly white; and Lysander had a nasty suspicion Scorpius was veering towards vomiting.

"Who knew Quidditch could get this violent?" she continued, fully aware of the two boys' discomfort and taking full advantage of the situation. "Ooh, if Fred hadn't caught James – that must have been at least fifty feet!"

Lysander shuddered, the horrible image of his best friend lying on the grass with a broken neck swimming in his head. Hopefully it wouldn't get that far, but...

"Pretty rough, this, isn't it?"

Lysander looked around to find a boy standing behind him, with floppy brown hair and a vague smile on his face. The boy was wearing Gryffindor robes – if it wasn't for that, Lysander would never have recognized him, for the boy must have been at least a year below him.

"I'm Jack," the boy explained, watching the four figures fly around in the air, and pointing to Roxanne, who currently had James in a headlock. "Roxanne told me she was playing, and invited me to watch."

Lysander nodded wordlessly, still shell-shocked at all he had seen.

"I say, is that the Golden Snitch?" Jack squinted towards Rose, who was diving towards the ground, her competitor struggling to get out of the headlock he was in. Rose's arm reached out –

BAM.

Fred had hit a Bludger with all his might at Rose's outstretched arm, and, due to his perfect aim, her arm bent in a way it was never designed to upon impact.

"That doesn't look too good," Lily said casually, scanning the sky for the escaped Snitch. A green tinge was creeping across Scorpius' face – Lysander pulled Jack out of the way as Scorpius turned towards them.

"I'm – going –" Scorpius managed, before running down the stands and towards the school. Lily didn't seem that bothered.

"That got rid of _him_," she muttered, much to Lysander's surprise.

"I thought you liked Scorpius?"

"I do," she said simply. "But it's a bit hard to concentrate when your boyfriend is threatening to puke all over you."

"Not Lysander, though," Jack grinned wickedly, punching him lightly on the shoulder. "He's made of stronger stuff, he is."

Lysander blushed and scowled.

"I know," said Lily, now watching Fred fly over to James and Roxanne with a determined frown on his face. "That's why we love him."

If it wasn't for the horrific noises of Roxanne's shrieks as her brother hit her repeatedly over the head, to release James, Lily would have heard exactly what Jack said to Lysander. But due to the commotion going on overhead, she only caught the last bit.

"– making a move!"

Lily raised an eyebrow. She most certainly hoped Lysander was not going to make a move on anybody. It wasn't as though she fancied him for herself – no, at this time of year most students had already been paired up, so Lysander was more than likely to get his heart ripped out and torn into a thousand pieces.

"Don't be ridiculous," muttered Lysander, but only so Jack could hear. He didn't really know this boy – for him to make ludicrous comments about Lysander 'getting it on' with his best mate's sister was simply out of order. Plus, Lily was with Scorpius, which had been made quite clear many times before.

Jack sniggered, to himself more than anyone, as Lysander pointedly moved a few centimeters away from Lily.


	14. Polyjuice Potion

Molly and Hugo were sitting by the fire in their common room, gazing lovingly into each others' eyes whilst drinking Butterbeer.

"I think you're amazing," said Molly, smiling shyly as Hugo tucked a piece of her chocolate-brown hair behind her ear.

"I think –"

But what exactly Hugo thought was never revealed, for at that moment the portrait door swung open and James raced in, his face white but his eyes conveying many shades of conflicting emotion.

"It's Rose –" he gasped, pausing for a moment to catch his breath. Hugo and Molly waited for him to continue, but, when he didn't, they took matters into their own hands.

"What about my sister?" said Hugo, half standing up from his chair.

"We were playing Quidditch …" James started, and his cousin groaned. It was common knowledge that Quidditch games with James was a recipe for disaster. "We were playing Quidditch – me, Rose and the twins – and the game was quite violent, to say the least –" (Molly raised her eyebrows, exchanging a heated look with Hugo) "– and Fred _accidentally_ hit a Bludger at Rosie's head … She fell off her broom, and it wasn't a pretty sight when we all got down to ground level.

"She's in the Hospital Wing," he continued, throwing a furtive glance to Hugo. "McGonagall, once hearing about the incident, stormed down to us and demanded an explanation. Lily –"

"Lily was there?" Hugo interrupted, a curious smile spreading over his freckled face. "What about Lysander?"

"– Er, yeah, he was there too." Hugo gave a satisfied smirk. "_Anyway_, McGonagall said that we're in massive trouble and she's confiscating our brooms. She says it's 'irresponsible' that seventh-years like ourselves would display such an act of violence in the presence of our guests. But I don't know what she's harping on about," James frowned thoughtfully, "Rosie's only fifteen, and the only people watching were Lily, Lysander, Scorpius and some other boy called Jack. It wasn't like the whole of Durmstrang was watching, now is it?"

Hugo blinked, unsure if James was actually posing a question to them or just musing to himself. He took it as the latter and stayed silent.

"So I'm just getting our brooms ... the twins are busy arguing with McGonagall over the unfairness of the whole situation," smirked James, as a plausible explanation for why he was getting their broomsticks as well as his own.

"What about Rose's broomstick?" said Molly, at the exact same time as Hugo said,

"What about the Gryffindor Quidditch team?"

James looked at them both, fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Lily and Lysander rescued Rose's broom after she fell, so they've handed hers in. As for our Quidditch playing..." James paused, unsure himself of how he and the twins were expected to play for Gryffindor if they didn't have broomsticks. He settled with a "Let's not run before we can walk, shall we?" before heading up to the dormitories.

* * *

"IT WASN'T OUR FAULT!" yelled Roxanne, standing opposite the Headmistress, in the middle of the Hospital Wing, both women looking absolutely furious.

"MISS WEASLEY, DO YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT YOUR BROOMSTICKS FLEW THEMSELVES?"

"NO, BUT ... ACCIDENTS HAPPEN!"

"I AM SOMEWHAT DOUBTFUL THAT BEING HIT IN THE _HEAD WITH A BLUDGER_ WOULD CLASSIFY AS AN 'ACCIDENT', WEASLEY!"

"THAT WAS FRED!"

"SO IT _WAS_ SOMEONE'S FAULT?"

Roxanne paused, looking at the others for help. Lily and Lysander exchanged glances, both of them sitting by Rose's unconscious form, neither of them speaking. Jack was standing by the window, watching the scene uncomfortably. Fred, on the other hand, was busy pacing behind his sister, an unusually pensive frown on his forehead. James had vanished.

"I never said it was _nobody's_ fault," said Roxanne slowly, "I just said it wasn't _our_ fault."

Professor McGonagall stood there, fuming; her face an angry red, her hair falling out of the tight bun it had been in.

"Miss Weasley," she snapped, "you and your friends have already got a month's detention, do not make matters worse for yourself by trying to be clever. Now, if that's all, I'm leaving. Tell Potter to bring your broomsticks up to my office when he returns."

As she swept away, Jack let out the breath he had been holding, all of the students looking positively relieved the Headmistress had left.

"It's too bad about your detention," he said sympathetically to the twins. "If there's anything I can do to help ..."

He trailed off as Fred finally looked up, staring at Jack as though he had never seen him before, a bright smile upon his face.

"There _is_ something you can do," said Fred, "you can get our brooms back."

"_What_?" Lysander exclaimed.

"How ridiculous," murmured Lily.

"I – But – McGonagall –"

"It's nothing personal," said Fred in what he clearly thought was a comforting voice. "Lily and Lysander can help you. But my sister, James and I will be in detention all month so we naturally cannot get them back ourselves. And we _have_ got Quidditch practice on top of our NEWTs, not to mention all the things James has to do for the Triwizard Tournament ..." he stopped, looking at Jack hopefully. Jack chanced a glance at Roxanne. She was standing in the same place McGonagall had left her in, but she had an odd expression on her face as she watched the two boys.

"I'm sorry," said Jack, sounding as though he meant it, too. "I have a lot of homework this year and –"

"We'll do it," interrupted Lily, pointing between her and Lysander, saving Jack the embarrassment of having to decline Fred's offer. "We're, er, a lot more experienced at this sort of thing. Perhaps ..."

"Perhaps what?" said Lysander drily, not at all impressed with practically being labeled as a criminal.

But Lily had fell silent, and if it wasn't for the sly smile that had crept onto her face Lysander would be comforted with the thought that she had given up. Unfortunately not – he knew Lily well enough to understand that when she grinned like that she was up to something. Something that was, more than likely, bound to end in trouble.

* * *

"Albus, we need your help."

Albus looked up from his unfinished Potions essay to find his sister staring down at him forcefully, Lysander loitering in the background.

"What with?" he said politely, turning a page in the book he was using for reference – _Standard Book of Potions: Grade Five_ – and scratching a few words onto his parchment.

"We need to find a way to steal three broomsticks from McGonagall's office as soon as possible."

Albus took a while to digest this statement, and, once he had, took even longer to think about it.

"Albus …" said Lily, pointedly tapping her fingers on the table.

"Well, first you need to work out _how_ you're going to break into McGonagall's office in broad daylight."

"Why broad daylight?" said Lysander, moving closer to the two siblings so he could hear properly.

"Professor McGonagall will be _out_ of her office in the day, won't she?" Albus rolled his eyes. "She'll be teaching."

Lysander nodded slowly, casting his mind back to every conversation he had had with James that involved breaking into places. James was, admittedly, an expert at sneaking around – Lysander had seven years of hard-earned proof on the matter.

Lily, on the other hand, pushed her brother's suggestion of finding a way to break in to the Headmistress's office away impatiently.

"Yeah, so once we've found a way to enter her office …"

"You go in and take back the broomsticks," said Albus simply. "Only, make sure you're not caught – the Head Boy and Girl are favorites to patrol that area. A disguise should be a good idea – I'd say use Polyjuice Potion, but that's take at _least_ a month to brew … not to mention it's awfully complicated and there's a whole _heap_ of things that could go wrong …"

But Lily wasn't listening anymore – at the mention of Polyjuice Potion she had gone very still, and Lysander could have sworn she had forgotten to breathe.

"Albus … you're a genius," said Lily finally, in a rather strangled sort of voice. "You know, I might even start admitting that you're related to me, which I assure you is something James and I have been trying to cover up for at least five years."

Albus smiled modestly, a bit taken aback at the mention of his unknown disownment from his siblings.

"It will take over a month," he told them again, but once again Lily brushed what he said aside.

"You can help us," she said instead, and both Albus and Lysander stared at her as though she were mad. "Don't look at me like that, Ly, we need his help. Without him, we wouldn't have managed to come up with such a _brilliant_ idea."

"But a month?" said Lysander incredulously. "What are James and the twins going to do in the meanwhile?"

"There might be a way," murmured Albus, once Lily had opened and closed her mouth wordlessly, "to make it in, say, a fortnight."

"How?" the other two asked at once. Albus smiled superiorly.

"There is a spell, do not ask me what it is – but it should be in a book somewhere, I'm sure."

Lysander shrugged aimlessly, flipping over Albus's own book to see the title. Lily groaned.

"Not _books_," she complained. "Besides, McGonagall would have given the broomsticks back soon, won't she?"

"Lily, this is _McGonagall _ we're talking about. She's likely to keep the brooms all year – Rose was one of her favorite pupils, after all."

Lily grumbled a bit at that, but thankfully went along with the idea of spending the next few days stuck in the library, searching for Polyjuice Potion.

The three of them soon began skipping lunch, choosing, instead, to grab a bite to eat from the kitchens later on when they finally took a break. They spent every minute of their free time in the library – Lysander, who had plenty of free periods that were supposed to be spent revising for his NEWTs, looked on his own when the other two were in their lessons. Since he was a seventh-year, he had unlimited access to the Restricted Section, so no awkward questions had to be asked by Madam Edgecombe, the librarian who notably wore a thick layer of makeup every day, as to why he was leafing through Dark reading material so eagerly.

The number of books they had combed through steadily grew higher and higher as the days slipped by, and by this point even Albus was beginning to lose hope.

"It's impossible," he moaned one rainy afternoon, when the whole school was outside watching Gryffindor's latest match against Hufflepuff. James and the twins had been forced to borrow three of the school's old broomsticks, something none of them were particularly happy about.

The three students had the library to themselves, for a change, for usually it was full of giggling Beauxbatons girls, menacing-looking Durmstrang students and the odd crowd of Hogwartians, frantically doing their overdue homework on one of the short wooden tables.

Lily, who had leapt at the chance to browse the Restricted Section in the absence of Madam Edgecombe, was busy leafing through a dusty old book called _Moste Potente Potions_. She had grown uncharacteristically quiet over the last few days, and had developed a tendency to snap viciously at anyone whenever they tried to talk to her.

Lysander, on the other hand, had turned uncontrollably jumpy and tended to answer questions in a high voice that was punctuated by increasingly frequent pauses.

Albus suspected both of these startling changes were down to their lack of sleep, food and company of others. He himself was finding it harder to concentrate in lessons – he often found his mind wandering to passages he had looked at in various books that morning, mentally rereading them to see if he'd missed a mention of Polyjuice Potion.

Their friends had also noticed the change in them – but they had put it down to exam stress, for Albus was also supposed to be sitting his OWLs in June, and most of his year were in various states of panic; and the only seventh-years who freely welcomed the approaching NEWTs were Fred and Roxanne, because they claimed their future lay outside the world of academic achievement.

"It's not ... impossible!" said Lysander, his voice faint from lack of use. "It's got to be ... here ... somewhere!"

"It won't be," Lily said shrilly, as both boys threw themselves back into their task of reading.

"What makes you say that?" asked Albus testily, scanning an article on the effects of the full moon on various potion ingredients.

"Because it's right here."

Both of them paused together, their eyes raising to each others' faces – it couldn't be, could it ... ?

"It was right under our noses, you know," Lily continued, not at all fazed by their silence. "I can't believe you missed it, Ly."

Albus started to stand up, but a warning glance from Lysander stopped him.

"Prove it," he said instead, and Lily bounded over to them and thrust_ Moste Potente Potions_ under their noses.

"Here it is," she said unnecessarily, tapping the page with her finger. "And on the next page –" she turned the page quickly "–there's a small paragraph on how to speed up the brewing process. So, all in all," she said, shutting the book with a loud 'bang', "it should only take a week."

"Lily ..."Lysander said hoarsely, "you're a genius, I don't know what I'd do without you."

Lily went slightly pink, but looked pleased all the same.

"So, we'll need the ingredients ... Albus, you can get those," she said in a business-like voice.

"Why me?" her brother asked.

"You have a clean record," Lily explained, and it was true – both her and Lysander had caused too much trouble with a varying mixture of James, Fred and Roxanne to get away with being caught in the private potions cupboard. Albus, on the other hand, didn't have a troublesome bone in his body. Yet. "Me and Lysander will start brewing the Polyjuice; we'll be in that old bathroom, the one that's been out of order for years."

The two boys nodded, Lysander going along with his friend's plans out of habit more than anything, as he was more than aware of the consequences of an irritated Potter.

"Well, since that's settled, we'll be seeing _you_ –" she thrust _Moste Potente Potions_ into Albus's chest forcefully "– later."

* * *

"That was quite a good match," said Hugo, as he and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team walked back to the changing rooms after the game. Fred nodded his agreement, and all seven of them relayed the various highlights from just before – Molly's memorable Sloth Grip Roll to avoid a speeding Bludger; the said Bludger then hitting the Hufflepuff Seeker, a broad-chested sixth-year that was recognized as Michael McKenzie, in the stomach due to a ferocious hit from Roxanne; Brooklyn Peakes, Gryffindor's Keeper, making a spectacular save using her elbow and the end of her broomstick; and James snatching the Snitch right out from under McKenzie's nose fifteen minutes into the game.

"Well done!" Rose, who had been discharged from the Hospital Wing that morning, ran over to the Gryffindor Team, her face shining. "That was really good, Jamie, I don't think I've ever seen anything like –"

But James, who normally would have soaked up the praise happily, had noticed a serious flaw in the way his two siblings and Lysander were missing.

"Where's Lily?" he asked, to no response. "What about Lysander, or Al, has anyone seen them?"

"I'm sure they're fine," said a fifth-year called Rachael Chaentler, who was a fellow Chaser to Hugo and Molly and who knew Albus well enough to know that he was way too sensible to get into anything too dangerous. Little did any of them know that at that exact moment Albus himself was sneaking into the Potions store-cupboard and stealing – though he preferred the term 'borrowing and conveniently forgetting to replace' – ingredients for a certain Polyjuice Potion.

* * *

Lysander walked down the hallway, hand in hand with Lily, his heart hammering uncontrollably and a broad grin on his face. He looked down at Lily – she smiled up at him in response, her deep brown eyes reflecting their feelings for each other.

Lysander looked up, enjoying the fact all eyes were on him; pleased, for once, that he was in the limelight – it seemed fitting, now he was the happiest he had been for as long as he could remember instead of because he had been involved in some celebrated prank with James.

Speaking of James, he was standing at the end of the hallway, leaning against the wall nonchalantly. His sister and his best friend – it was natural they would have got together, but the latter worried for the reaction they would receive – James had refused to speak to his sister for weeks after she started dating Scorpius; but Lysander and Lily were made for each other ...

But this was Lysander's moment, and it was he who put his arm around Lily, scanning James's face for the approval he so desperately needed. At last he got it – James slowly, but surely, nodded and then beamed.

Lysander felt a wave of relief rush through his veins; as he bent down to Lily, James and the other students mysteriously vanished ... and Lysander gently placed his mouth over hers –

"LYSANDER!"

The real Lysander awoke with a start, his vision blurry and his head swimming. As both his sight and mind cleared, what he had just dreamt hit him with the force of an oncoming train and his face started to heat up uncontrollably.

"Honestly, can you not stay awake for _two minutes_?" said Lily furiously, waving her wand over the cauldron they had acquired and watching as flames magically appeared beneath it.

Lysander, upon realizing that it was _her_, Lily, the girl he had just dreamt he was in a relationship with, in front of him, sitting so casually on the bathroom floor, not knowing that just seconds ago she had been _kissing_ him – but no, Lysander would not let himself dwell on his dream. All the same, he felt himself blush even more as she turned her eyes – her lovely brown eyes – to him.

"Are you all right, Lysander?" she said kindly, searching his face for any sign of distress.

"No!" yelped Lysander. "I mean, yes! I mean, where's Albus? Where's Scorpius? Ha ha, Scorpius, your boyfriend! You have a boyfriend! Of _course_ you do, how stupid of me to forget! After all, he loves you! He said it himself on the staircase! Ha ha ..." he trailed off faintly, once noticing the look on Lily's face. "That is to say," he said in a stronger, more natural voice, "I don't think –"

"How do _you_ know Scorpius loves me?" Lily cut across him with disgust. Lysander flushed.

"Er, well ... I accidentally overheard you two on the staircase the other day – but I didn't tell anyone!" he hastily added, and she narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Yes, you did," she said calmly, but her red hair seemed to crackle with electricity. "You told Hugo."

"Well, technically, but – wait, how do _you_ know _that_?"

"Helena told me," Lily glared. "She said that you told Hugo, who told Molly, who told Lucy, who told Fred, who told Roxanne, who told James, who told the whole school."

This took a moment to sink in, but once it did, Lysander fidgeted rather uncomfortably, cursing Helena's tendency to gossip.

"It was an accident," he finally mumbled, and Lily nodded fairly.

"Yes, I suppose it was," she said briskly, stirring the boiling water in the cauldron with her wand, once again showing her uncanny knack of not being fazed by anything.

Lysander smiled inwardly, as he watched her mutter incantations under her breath. God, he loved her.

Wait, what? No, he most certainly did _not_. Of course he didn't.

That would be absurd, he thought, but as Lily glanced up and smiled at him, a new wave of contradictions rose in his mind.

_You love her, _said an inner voice that sounded all too suspiciously like his twin brother, Lorcan.

No, I don't, he argued. She's my best friend's sister.

_So?_

So nothing can ever happen, because James would go crazy.

_But do you actually care what he'd think?_

Yes.

_No._

Yes.

_No, you don't,otherwise you wouldn't be alone in a bathroom with her._

That was Lily's idea, not mine. Hey, wait a minute – does that mean _she_ likes _me_?

_You tell me. It's not that hard to figure out._

Well, yes, Lysander thought reasonably, it kind of is.

_Well, there's only one way to find out ... You're in Gryffindor for a reason, so use your bravery and courage and lean over there and –_

And what?

– _kiss her._

WHAT? I can't kiss Lily! Besides, she doesn't even like me.

_Idiot._

"Lysander, what are you doing?"

Lysander came to his senses, only to find himself a few centimeters away from Lily's face.

"I'm, er, 'using my bravery and courage to lean over here and kiss you.'"

Lily burst out laughing. It took a moment, one painstakingly long moment, before Lysander realized she hadn't taken him seriously – she thought he had been joking. He smiled weakly.

"God, Lysander, you're hilarious."

"I know," he shrugged unsteadily, not knowing what else to say. However, this just made Lily giggle even more. "Imagine if I were serious!" he exclaimed, getting into the swing of things and sincerely laughing himself.

"Imagine!" Lily agreed, now rocking back and forth hysterically. "I mean, there'd be no way of knowing, would there? Not unless I went over to you –" she slid towards him, both of them still laughing "– and I put my arms around your neck, like this –" she proceeded to do so, Lysander being the first to register how unnaturally close they were "– and told you to take me up on it!"

She giggled momentarily before also noticing, and acknowledging, the state they were in. Yet, in all honesty, there was something about Lysander's gray eyes, his lopsided smile, his floppy blonde fringe, that made Lily wish that something would happen, off the record, so both of them could finally admit to themselves that they liked each other ...

And without thinking, without planning it, without knowing what had come over him ... Lysander brought his lips down, barely brushing them against Lily's own; before Lily regarded him in utter seriousness, tightened her hold around his neck and kissed him.

That was it. Fireworks exploding against a dark, velvet sky ... exactly what it should have been, exactly what it was. Nobody else existed. Nothing else mattered. It was perfect – as perfect as Planet Earth before people, perfect like snow before footsteps.

Neither of them ever found out how long they sat there, in the middle of the broken-down girls' bathroom,their lips blending together so naturally and so easily ... It could have been minutes, hours, days even.

All that mattered to them was the other – Lysander fitted into Lily's arms so comfortably it was as though they had been designed to hold him; and Lily herself, pressed against his shirt, could think of no better place to be, not with Scorpius or ...

Scorpius.

Her blood ran cold, and Lysander, sensing her hesitation, slowly pulled away too.

"Scorpius," she whispered simply, and Lysander's eyes widened, a thrill of dread coursing through his mind.

"You think?" A voice, a horribly familiar voice, sounded from the doorway. Both of them looked up, not knowing what to expect – but it was only Hugo, a large bag of Albus's potions ingredients in his hands. His expression was apathetic, unreadable.

"This isn't what it looks like –" the two hastened to get away from each other, Lysander's lie cutting the tension in the air with a knife.

"He's right – it didn't – this didn't mean anything." But that was a lie, too – it was written all over Lily's face even as she spoke those words ... it meant absolutely everything, and she, Lysander and Hugo all knew it.

"Oh, really?" said Hugo calculatingly, dropping the bag to the floor and advancing towards Lysander menacingly. Then before any of them knew what was happening, he had thrown his arms out wide and was beaming tearfully.

"Welcome to the family!" he sobbed thickly, shoving Lysander into his arms. "I always knew this would happen, oh, I'm so glad Malfoy isn't – well, you know what I mean ..."

Lily stared at her cousin, quite alarmed, and from over Hugo's shoulder Lysander threw Lily a frightened look. This was quite unexpected, to say the least.

"Albus asked me to drop these off – he said he had an errand to do – oh my, when I tell him –"

"No," said Lily fiercely. "You must tell no one."

"Especially," Lysander added gravely, "Scorpius Malfoy."


	15. Operation Penguin

"Well, it appears the Polyjuice is finally ready," Albus remarked, three days later, just before lunch, as the trio sat in the unused bathroom, the room silent except for the odd splash of the mud-like substance in the cauldron in front of Lily.

Neither she nor Lysander had willingly said a word to each other since they kissed three days ago; all the unspoken things that had passed between them now seemed awkward whenever they were with their friends. When they did have to speak to each other – Hugo had developed a knack of forcing conversation out of them, all the while relishing every word – it was forced, overly polite, and generally reverted back to general things such as the weather or the upcoming examinations.

Lily and Scorpius had also not spoken much – the latter was spending a lot more time with his fellow Slytherins, but had a tendency to gaze sadly towards the Gryffindor table whenever both he and Lily were in the vicinity of the Great Hall. She, on the other hand, appeared to have completely put him out of her mind – despite the enormous change of not talking to Lysander, she was, instead, the life and soul of Gryffindor House; even Fred and Roxanne now appeared dull compared to her.

It was odd, mused Albus, as he tipped a few hairs into the cauldron. This whole situation was very odd indeed. Absent-mindedly watching the potion turn an icy blue, he came to the conclusion that he most certainly did not like what was happening.

"I say," he said in an overly casual voice, "have you seen Scorpius lately, Lily?"

"Yes," his sister replied defiantly. "I saw him this morning, he was on the staircase talking to a girl in Slytherin. Olivia Reynolds, my year, she's a bit of a twa –"

"All right," said Albus hurriedly. "But when did you last actually _speak_ to him?"

Lily looked to Lysander for help, both of them making the first eye contact they had had in a while.

"I – don't know," she said finally, unwillingly tearing her gaze away from Lysander's. "A few days ago, I guess?"

"He's supposed to be your _boyfriend_," Albus sighed, shaking his head wearily and decanting the Polyjuice into two separate flasks. "Don't you agree, Lysander?"

Lysander gave a start.

"It's not up to me to decide," he said, firmly looking anywhere but at Lily. "But yes, relationships are, er, very important."

He tried to ignore Lily's slightly crestfallen expression and instead focused on the flask of potion he had just been given by Albus. He swilled it around, watching it splash against the sides, and then swallowed it whole. Albus, from opposite him, did the same. Lily watched them both curiously as the two boys' appearances began to rapidly change.

Albus was growing upwards, his long black hair shooting back into his skull by the second; whereas Lysander was shrinking ever so slightly, his own blond hair lengthening and turning darker and darker until –

Lily stared. Before her were the exact figures of Pyotr Vulchanov and Jacqueline Lejeune.

"I still don't see why I 'ave to be zee woman," Lysander grumbled, his voice having taken on Lejeune's precise French accent and pitch.

"It's because you're the most –" Albus started, but was cut off from the cold glare Lysander threw at him. "Where are the originals?" he asked instead, and it was his sister who answered.

"James and Roxanne are sorting _them _out," she said, and neither of the boys liked the dry satisfaction she put into that statement. "Fred's outside, waiting ... he thinks it's best to be seen in the innocence of the general public before we create our, er, diversion."

Lysander and Albus exchanged glances. Whatever Lily and Fred had cooked up didn't sound as though it would be Headmistress-approved. Which, as Fred rightly pointed out the day before, was the whole point.

"Now hurry up, you're wasting time. Operation Penguin has to fit within this hour, you know." Lily shooed them out of the door impatiently, where, sure enough, Fred stood nonchalantly.

"'Operation Penguin?'" said Albus, raising his newly bushy eyebrows pointedly. Lily ignored him.

"Ready, Lee?" Fred asked, smiling widely.

"You bet."

* * *

"Don't say anything," warned Fred, as he and Lily waited at the bottom of the staircase for someone they knew to arrive. Lily nodded, surveying the Entrance Hall just in case.

"There's James," she murmured; and after another cautionary glance up the staircase, Fred followed her over to her eldest brother.

"All right, James," he said out of the corner of his mouth, pretending to read a poster with the details of the upcoming NEWT examinations on it. James had pulled out his copy of _Quidditch Through the Ages_ and was pretending to read, though his eyes were not moving. Lily was scrutinizing her fingernails. "Phase One of Operation Penguin should commence in five minutes. Have you got the, er, supplies?"

James coughed once, giving the signal for 'no'.

"Roxanne has them," he said into his hand, pretending to scratch his nose.

"Good," said Fred, just quiet enough for only his two friends to hear him. "All right, that's our cue," he said, as Roxanne walked through the doors of the Great Hall, staring determinedly ahead, the front of her robes bulging. "Lily – go."

Lily cleared her throat loudly and fell into step behind a group of Slytherin seventh-years, all of whom luckily ignored her.

"James, follow on."

James, a few minutes after his sister and the Slytherin boys had entered the Hall, swung an arm around a random Beauxbatons girl and also walked in, paying no attention whatsoever to the pointed attempts she was making to throw him off her.

After another pause, once all the students that had been milling around outside had entered the Great Hall, Fred followed.

Lily had chosen a seat on the Gryffindor Table at the very end of the Hall, right next to the doors. She glanced up at Fred as he entered and winked at him. Roxanne, on the other hand, had sat down in the middle of the room, next to Lucy Weasley, her stomach perfectly flat again. James had took a seat beside Rose on the Ravenclaw Table.

"Do your thing, Fred," he murmured, as his cousin hurried down the center aisle of the Hall, shoulders shaking. "Any minute ... now."

Fred promptly burst into loud, raucous sobs.

"Oh my!" Roxanne exclaimed dramatically, pulling Lucy up so she could go over to her brother. The two girls approached him, but this only made him cry harder.

"What's wrong, brother?" said Roxanne loudly, making sure her voice carried over her twin's mock despair.

"It's – th-the NEWTs!" he sobbed. "I'm going to f-fail everything!"

"Of course you're not," Lucy said consolingly, patting him on the arm and having no idea what was going on. Fred sobbed, if anything, even more noisily.

"It's t-terrible!" he wailed, covering his face with his hands. He had definitely got the attention of the entire Hall now; out of the gaps of his fingers he could see Lily creeping out of the Hall, her own front bulging now.

"_What _is going on?" McGonagall hastened down from her seat at the head of the Great Hall to see what the fuss was about.

"It's my twin brother, Professor," said Roxanne, ignoring the few jeers that were coming from the Slytherin end of the Hall. "He's _so _distressed over the exams!"

Professor McGonagall began a wave of comforting reassurance. Fred sobbed. Roxanne and James waited.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, a Hufflepuff seventh-year burst into tears of her own accord.

"I'm going to fail too!" she cried, sobbing into her lunch.

"Oh yes," said Roxanne gravely. "The exams are supposed to be a _lot _more difficult this year. In fact –" she looked pointedly towards the Ravenclaw Table, where a few boys were swotting up on facts, "– there's a rumor going around that the exams won't be based on what we've learned this year at _all_!"

There was a pause.

"Oh my Voldemort!" one of the boys yelled, getting out of his seat and staring, aghast, down at his book. "What are we going to _do_?"

"Calm down," snapped McGonagall, but by this time it was too late.

The Hall was full of sobs, shouts and exclamations; the Ravenclaws were tearing up their books in fits of annoyance; the Hufflepuffs were wailing that they were all going to fail everything; and a loud slanging match had, somehow, broken out between the Gryffindors and Slytherins. Even the younger students had got involved – they had their end-of-year examinations coming up, so they were in equal states of disarray.

The teachers had fled for the lives after a firework – sent from Lily, but no one apart from James and the twins were to know that – exploded and coated them all in sticky goo.

"That's enough!" McGonagall yelled, and Fred quite agreed. Operation Penguin: Phase One had gone all too perfectly. "Ravenclaws, sit _down_! And if I hear one more word from a Gryffindor or Slytherin this entire _Hall_ will be in detention!"

* * *

"Go, Lysander, go!" Albus whispered, holding the door the the Headmistress's office open wide. Lysander crept in, the ends Jacqueline Lejeune's robes floating behind him gracefully. Albus shut the door hurriedly as the Head Boy, a Ravenclaw called Nickolas Donaldson, walked towards him.

"Good morning, Sir Vulchanov," Donaldson inclined his head in greeting. Albus sneered at him, earning him an odd look.

He had forgotten – Pyotr Vulchanov was no longer the conniving villain. Making a hasty attempt to smile at the Head Boy, he turned his attention back to hearing what Lysander was doing inside. Three short raps on the door indicated he had got the broomsticks safely.

Once Donaldson had turned a corner, Albus opened the door. Lysander crept out, the three broomsticks held safely in Jacqueline Lejeune's arms. Both boys heard a faint wail from downstairs.

"Let's go," Albus hissed, and the two boys hurried down to the bathroom; Lysander sending a Stunning spell towards Donaldson when his back was turned.

"I never liked him much," he whispered, and Albus studied him in amazement.

"Wow, Ly, what brought this on?"

"I wanted to be Head Boy," Lysander admitted finally, as they reached the bathroom. "But I suppose being best friends with James counteracted that."

"I suppose you're right," Albus said glumly, wondering whether family relationships would also count. "Anyway, we'd better send a signal down to the others – I'll go, the Polyjuice is wearing off on me quicker."

Lysander nodded; and Albus left, wondering how on earth he was supposed to enter the Great Hall, unseen, to talk to his comrades

Luckily, he needn't have worried – once he had reached the Entrance Hall he ran into his sister and Scorpius, both of whom were leaving the Great Hall themselves.

"Hurry up," Lily murmured. "McGonagall's busy talking to the, er, real Vulchanov and Lejeune, so you can sneak in unseen." In answer to her brother's questioning glance, she hastily added, "Me and Scorpius have been sent to fetch Filch. The firework caused a lot more damage than was anticipated."

Albus understood, and walked into the Hall.

Lily and Scorpius, on the other hand, climbed the stairs together. Neither of them spoke until they reached the second floor.

"There's just something I have to do," said Lily, when they walked towards the previously unused bathroom. "You go on ahead."

Scorpius shrugged and carried on walking; while Lily slipped inside the bathroom to see Lysander.

"Hello, Lily," Lysander said awkwardly, looking up as she entered.

"Ly," she said quietly in greeting, standing by the doorway and staring down at him.

"I'm sorry for not speaking to you," he mumbled, fiddling with an edge of the robes he was wearing.

"That's quite all right,"said Lily, smiling and walking further into the room, finally sitting down next to him. "So, did everything go smoothly?"

"Perfect," said Lysander. "There was a bit of trouble with that Donaldson bloke, you know, the Head Boy, but I sorted it out. How was it down in the Hall?"

"Couldn't have gone smoother," said Lily casually. "Fred performed his part perfectly, and Roxanne was brilliant."

"That's nice to hear," Lysander smiled, and it was in that moment that both of them could feel their hearts speeding up.

"Er, you'd better get changed back into your school robes," Lily said hurriedly, turning away to give him the privacy he'd need.

He did so, and for a moment there was silence except for the rustle of fabric.

"Done," he said, perhaps unnecessarily, as Lily stood up and stretched.

"We'd better be getting out of here," she said wisely, pausing to take in Lysander's appearance. "Your collar's wonky – here ..." She approached him, put her hands on his neck and started to fix his collar. He swallowed nervously – they hadn't been this close to each other since they kissed three days ago.

"Beautiful," Lily remarked, loosening her hold on Lysander, but making no effort to move away from him.

"Yes, you are," the latter replied without thinking. "Er, I mean – I was talking to my collar –"

"Shush," smiled Lily, placing a finger over Lysander's mouth. Gray eyes met brown, and Lily's hands instinctively fell to around his shoulders.

"Lily –" Lysander started, his throat dry and his heart hammering inside his chest. But Lily smiled again, and he was struck mute. He bent his head, closed his eyes and –

"What the _hell_ is going on in here?"

Scorpius Malfoy, fresh from bringing back Argus Filch, had popped his head around the door to see if Lily was ready to return to the Great Hall. He was torn – half of him wanted to say 'I told you so' to Lysander; whereas the rest of him wanted to jinx him until he resembled nothing more than a sea slug. He settled on letting his girlfriend explain.

"Scorpius, I swear on James's life –"

"No, Lily," Lysander cut her off. "Scorpius knows."

She gasped.

"I'd guessed from the start," Scorpius hastened to explain. "It was obvious in the way he looked at you. But that does not excuse –" he said loudly, as Lily look at Lysander as though she's never seen him before "– whatever the two of you were planning on getting up to in this bathroom." He cast a glance around the broken-down bathroom interestedly. "We'll discuss this later," he added to Lily, and swept from the room. Lily gave Lysander a slightly frightened glance before she followed her boyfriend out of the door.

* * *

And sure enough, the two did discuss it, but it was a very short conversation, judging by how Lily returned to the Gryffindor Common Room only five minutes after Scorpius had sought her company.

She didn't say a word about their conversation to anybody, and neither did Scorpius – the only thing that circulated Hogwarts the next day was that both of them had changed their WizardSpace relationship statuses to 'It's Complicated'; a fact that greatly interested both Fred and James, but for very different reasons.

"Operation Penguin: Phase Three has been completed," the former was heard muttering to Hugo, both of them grinning like maniacs. "Of course, neither Lily nor Lysander knew about that part, but still ..."

James took a very different line on things, and began questioning his sister when she was least expecting it on whether this meant she and Scorpius were single.

"_No_, James," Lily snapped for the thirteenth time, "can't you read? It clearly says 'It's Complicated.' Also, I would greatly appreciate it if you would stop jumping out on me like that. Last time you scared a second-year half to death."

But nobody, not Hugo, James or even Fred, was enjoying this change in events more than Lysander himself.

As much as he hated to admit it, he got a dry sense of satisfaction in knowing that 'It's Complicated' was just one step away from 'Single.' He did feel bad for both of them, but the change in events made him so happy he even stopped lecturing Fred and Roxanne about laughing while he was trying to revise.

* * *

"Lysander, can I speak with you a moment?"

Lysander, who was sitting in the Common Room with Fred, Molly and Albus, looked up to see Hugo staring at him. He and Albus were using the time to cram for their upcoming examinations, whereas Fred and Molly were loudly playing a game of Exploding Snap.

"Er, are you sure, Hugo?" he replied, trying his hardest to communicate what he was feeling, dreading that this was about Lily.

"Oh, yes," he said firmly, confirming Lysander's fears. "Perfectly sure."

Albus had looked up from his notes to watch the scene with vague interest – he gave Lysander an odd look, inwardly questioning why the seventh-year was not getting out of his seat to talk to Hugo.

"All right, fine," said Lysander reluctantly, standing up and stretching. "What, here?"

"No," Hugo snapped, grabbing a fistful of his robes and practically throwing him out of the Portrait Hole. "Don't be such a moron."

Once outside the Common Room – which didn't take too long with Hugo behind him, tutting impatiently whenever he paused – he turned to face the fourth-year boy with an air of accepted defeat.

"What do you want to say?"

"I wanted to tell you," said Hugo calmly, "that Lily ended things with Scorpius."

Lysander was quiet for a very long time.

"Oh." he said finally. "Right."

"And I also wanted to let you know," Hugo continued, but quieter this time, as a few Durmstrang boys lumbered past them, "that, er, it's probably better for you to do something sooner rather than later, unless you want them to get back together. I heard from a very reliable source that –"

But what exactly Hugo had heard from this 'reliable source' was never relayed to any of them, because the Durmstrang boys chose that moment to start a very loud, and very graphic, argument over whether their Headmaster would allow them to 'bunk off' for the next few weeks so that they could 'find time to chill, man.'

"Come here, Ly." Hugo grabbed Lysander's robes again and pulled him round a corner, away from the teenagers. Lysander wished he would stop doing that. "Look, Lily's my cousin, and I don't want to see her get crushed because you won't ask her out."

Lysander gaped.

"I never said –"

"Oh, please," Hugo cast a few furtive glances around to check they were not being eavesdropped on before continuing. "I know you, Lysander, and in my opinion, the actual chances of you manning up and asking her out are ... what, less than zero?"

Lysander flushed, but Hugo didn't seem at all fazed.

"Seriously, you have the backbone of a _Hufflepuff_. Oh, it's there all right, but you won't use it unless you're in a life or death situation." A passing Hufflepuff girl gave Hugo a very dirty look as she walked by. "My point is, Ly, that we all have to make choices. Now, I hate to break it you, but either you ask her out or someone else will. She's way too popular to let a little breakup with Malfoy stop the boys in this school from making a move.

"So here's my deal," Hugo went on, "either you ask Lily out, or I will very clearly and very publicly announce that you kissed Lily while she was already taken. What Scorpius walked in on was nothing, so I dread to think what he would make of these new developments ... not to mention _James_ ..."

Lysander studied him suspiciously.

"What's in it for _you_?" he said, still rather offended over the insults he had received.

"Well, it's funny you should say that," said Hugo, though neither of them were laughing. "I care about Lily, therefore don't want to see her heartbroken over a spineless worm." Hugo studied Lysander critically, who looked extremely taken aback. "Face facts, Ly – she won't stay single forever, no matter how much you hope and pray."

And with that, Hugo walked away, leaving a very stunned Lysander in his wake.

"Did he buy it?" Fred asked hopefully, five minutes later, as Hugo clambered back into the Gryffindor Common Room.

"He did indeed," said Hugo, and Molly and Fred grinned at each other.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" said Albus, from over the book he had a centimeter away from his nose. "After all, there's no betting that he'd actually do it."

"Albus," said Fred patiently, swinging around in his armchair to face him. "When you've shared a dormitory with someone for seven years, you kind of get to know them. I know Lysander, and I know he'd do anything for Lily."

Albus weighed this up, shrugging; as Hugo sat down next to Molly and took her hand.

"Are you sure what Hugo said wasn't too harsh?" the latter asked, slightly worriedly.

"No way," said Fred, casually tossing a sheet of Albus's notes into the fire. "Treat 'em mean to keep 'em keen ... Oh, sorry Albus. My bad."

Albus scowled at Fred, magicking his notes back onto his desk and repairing them with a flick of his wand.

"Seriously, Molly," said Hugo, yawning widely. "Lysander will be _fine_."


	16. Examinations

The castle grounds were gleaming in the sunlight as though freshly painted; the cloudless sky smiled at itself in the smoothly sparkling lake; the satin green lawns rippled occasionally in a gentle breeze. June had arrived, but to the fifth- and seventh-years this meant only one thing: their OWLs and NEWTs were finally upon them.

Their teachers were no longer setting them homework; lessons were devoted entirely to revising those topics the teachers thought were most likely to come up in the exams. The purposeful, feverish atmosphere drove nearly everything but the NEWTs from Lysander's mind, though he did occasionally wonder whether the look Lily cast him sometimes whenever they were in the same vicinity was down to their second encounter in the bathroom, and he still found himself contemplating the conversation he had had with Hugo sometimes when he was just drifting off to sleep. Either way, Lysander was quite busy and tense enough without the added drama of a potential relationship, even one with Lily; and to both of their relief James was much to preoccupied nowadays to interrogate his sister about her and Scorpius – he was spending a lot of time muttering to himself and had not been seen out of the library for days.

He was not the only one acting oddly as the examinations drew steadily nearer – Rose had developed a horrible habit of forcing the nearest student to test her thoroughly on whatever book she had with her; a process that became so dreaded after word got around that she'd once recited the whole first three chapters of _Intermediate Transfiguration_ in such a monotonous voice that the person testing her had fallen asleep and consequently missed a whole two lessons.

Meanwhile, Fred and Roxanne had found a different way to induce panic.

"Your OWLs are the most important things you'll ever do in your _lifetime_," they were heard to loudly tell a group of fifth-years, of which included Scorpius, outside the Great Hall a few days before the exams were to start. "One boy, Maxwell Fawcett, failed every single exam he sat. And _he_ was the top student in our year!"

The seventh-years received their examination timetables and details of the procedure for NEWTs during their next Herbology lesson.

"As you can see," Professor Longbottom told the class as they all read the dates and times of their exams from the little blue sheet of parchment they had been given, "your NEWTs are spread over the two successive weeks. You will sit the practice in the mornings and the theory papers in the afternoons. For those of you who took Astronomy, your practical exam will take place at night.

"The Headmistress has asked me to warn you that the most stringent anti-cheating charms have been applied to your exam papers. Auto-Answer Quills are banned from the examination room, as are Remembralls, Self-Correcting Ink and any product from the shop known as 'Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.' Every year, I am afraid to say, seems to produce at least one student who thinks that he or she can get around the rules of the examination." His gaze fell upon Fred and Roxanne, both of whom were grinning sheepishly. "An owl will be sent to you sometime in the holidays, giving you the results of your examinations. You will then be asked to return to Hogwarts one final time in the summer to discuss your immediate plans for the future and, if necessary, you will be asked to return the next year to retake your NEWT courses."

Fred and Roxanne exchanged smirks.

Their first examination, Practice of Charms, was scheduled for first thing Monday morning. Sunday night in the Gryffindor Common Room was a very subdued affair indeed.

James, who had only returned from the library five minutes ago, was busy practicing incantations under his breath while pacing around the room; Fred and Roxanne were reading seven years' worth of Charms notes in the corner, both of them frowning pensively and shouting at anyone who interrupted them; and Lysander and Albus, the latter of which had his Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL the following morning, were sitting in the middle of the room, both of them trying to jinx each other soundlessly. Rose, however, had been banned from the Gryffindor Common Room after racing in on numerous occasions, her arms full of notes, and wailing at Albus to help her revise since her own Common Room was too noisy to concentrate in.

It was an uncomfortable sort of evening. Everybody was trying to do some last-minute revision but nobody seemed to be getting very far. Finally, the exam students drifted off to bed one by one, all of them lying awake but nobody speaking.

Not one person spoke at breakfast the next day. The younger students were huddled together, trading Chocolate Frog Cards silently, for fear of being yelled at by someone who was actually sitting an examination that morning. Lily and Lucy had already been told off twice by a Hufflepuff fifth-year called Mark, and the second occasion had simply reduced Lucy to tears.

Meanwhile, the seventh-year Gryffindors had spread their books out all over the top end of the table, a sight that was so unusual even the Ravenclaws were impressed. They themselves were all either reading so fast their eyes appeared blurred, or quietly reciting definitions of the typical spells they had learned that year. The Slytherins, on the other hand, had given up completely with last-minute revision and were busy whispering animatedly to the Durmstrang students.

James was sitting in front of an enormous pile of library books, all of which he had checked out yesterday, and was attempting to read them all in the hour they had before their exam started. Fred and Roxanne were muttering darkly to each other, complicated diagrams and hastily scrawled passages from essays on the table before them, all covered in the pumpkin juice Lysander had accidentally knocked over when he had first seen the examiners enter the school. He himself was anxiously rereading textbooks, essays and homework that he had done throughout the year, most of which had been dug out from very unlikely places, including the bottom of James's trunk and down the side of the Herbology Greenhouses.

Once breakfast was over, the fifth- and seventh-years milled around in the Entrance Hall while the other students went off to their lessons, most of which had been relocated due to a lot of the classrooms being take up for examination space; then, at half past nine on the dot, the seventh-years were led away into a side passage while the fifth-years were called forward class by class to enter the Great Hall, which had been rearranged so that the four house tables had disappeared, and, instead, there were more than a hundred smaller tables, all facing the same way, on each of which lay an exam paper, an empty roll of parchment and a quill in ink.

Professor McGonagall stood at the front of the desks facing them. When they were all seated and had finally fell silent, she turned over an enormous hour-glass on the desk beside her and told the students to begin.

Albus turned over his paper nervously – two rows to the left and four seats ahead Rose was already scribbling; whereas in the seat right in front of him Scorpius was sitting there, unmoving, staring at the exam paper – and read the first question: _Give the TEN main differences between a Doxy and a Cornish Pixie_.

Having a strong feeling that this examination was just going to get worse, and with the air of one who was about to be executed, Albus bent his head and unwillingly began to write.

"That wasn't so terrible, was it?" said Rose cheerily as they all exited the Great Hall two hours later, the exam paper clutched firmly in her hand.

"Speak for yourself," muttered Albus, who personally thought the exam went dreadfully – he had still not properly answered a question until halfway through the paper.

The NEWT students' practical Charms exam hadn't gone much better, either.

Lysander had mixed up the incantation for his Growth and Levitation Charms, so that the otter he was supposed to be doubling in size instead zoomed around the room, finally knocking a Ravenclaw girl unconscious; James had accidentally caused his normally red hair to turn a rather fetching shade of green; but, to everybody's immense surprise, including their own, Fred and Roxanne had outperformed everyone and had cast each spell perfectly.

The examiner was still raving about it ten minutes after the bell that signaled break had rung.

"I told you," Roxanne said through gritted teeth, "I don't know how it happened."

"Nonsense!" the examiner beamed. "I've never seen a finer Color Change Charm in all my thirty years of doing this job! And you, young man –" he clapped Fred on the back, sending him staggering into the wall "– you were simply amazing!"

Fred grimaced. He, when asked to turn a flask of vinegar into wine, had not only proceeded to do so, but had produced such a fine standard of wine that it had been taken away and was apparently going to be on display in the trophy room. He swore he had no idea how he had managed to do so, having done little schoolwork for seven whole years.

The rest of the OWLs and NEWTs passed without much fuss, and it wasn't until the last examination – the Care of Magical Creatures NEWT practical – that anything out of the ordinary happened.

The seventh-years, who were supposed to be demonstrating the correct way to handle a Hippogriff, were all doing okay until it got to Lysander's turn. He and Fred were the only Gryffindors taking the class, and the latter was hiding behind a group of Ravenclaws, most of whom were also casting worried glances at the Hippogriff.

Lysander rolled his eyes. It wasn't that hard, really, he thought as he patted its beak absently. They were all right, Hippogriffs ...

And the next thing he knew, he was lying on the floor, pain shooting from his chest, yelling in agony.

* * *

"Is he all right?" Lily, who had hurtled, white-faced, up to the Hospital Wing as soon as she heard the news, stared at Fred, who claimed to have seen the whole thing.

They and Hugo, whom was in all of Lily's classes, were anxiously waiting outside the Hospital Wing to see Lysander.

"I don't know," said Fred hoarsely. "One minute it was going fine, the next, the Hippogriff had slashed him across the chest with, like, the force of a speeding Bludger. The wounds were pretty deep –"

He cut off as Lily gave a whimper, and, to general astonishment, started to cry.

Fred stared at Hugo, both of them at a loss for what to say. Neither of them had ever seen Lily cry, and had no idea what to do about it. Luckily, comfort arrived in the form of James, who was the only person who had ever seen his sister in this state.

"He'll be fine, Lee," he said, pulling her into his arms and holding her tight. "As if we'd let him be any different."

Lily made a funny noise halfway through a sob and a laugh, and buried her head into her brother's chest.

"I'm sorry I'm late, my Transfiguration practical –" James stopped speaking as the matron appeared at the doors.

"You can come in, now," she said, but by the time she had even opened her mouth to tell them this, Lily had thrown her brother off, raced past them all and entered the Hospital Wing without further ado.

She stopped as she reached the end of Lysander's bed, staring down at his figure. He was heavily bandaged around his chest, and there was a deep cut on his face from when he had fallen to the ground. He was awake, and he gave Lily the lopsided smile she loved the most before turning his attention to James, Hugo and Fred, all three of which had just followed on.

"Wow, Ly," James said finally. "I always told you not to take Care of Magical Creatures, and now, here's the proof. I hate to say 'I told you so', but..."

Lysander laughed, but Lily, who had been staring at him with an odd look on his face, burst into tears again, hastened to his side and threw her arms around his neck. Lysander patted her on the back stiffly, not being able to do much else due to his injuries.

"I th-thought you'd –" Lily sniffed and stopped speaking, and even James's heart went out to her then – the sight of his sister and best friend holding each other whilst the former sobbed uncontrollably into his shoulder was something he never thought he'd see, despite him having no idea whatsoever about their unstable relationship.

"I love you," Lily whispered into Lysander's shoulder, so that only he could hear her.

"I know," he murmured, and she gave a shaky laugh. "I love you too, I have done since –"

"Since?" she repeated, moving her head so she could look at his face, tear-tracks still staining her own.

Lysander swallowed.

"Since, you know ... since forever."

Lily gazed at him, Lysander's face heating up of its own accord.

"But if you ever repeat that to anyone," he said, more clearly now, "I swear I will never speak to you again."

"Repeat what?" Fred asked innocently, Lily and Lysander having quite forgotten he and the others were still there.

"Nothing," said Lysander quickly. Lily stared at him.

"Well ..." she started, a sly grin spreading over her face, and he shot her a warning glance. "Nah, it doesn't matter."

"Tell me!"

Lily burst out laughing at the scowl upon Lysander's injured face.


	17. The Twins' Disaster

"Mr Potter!" called McGonagall, pushing her way through a crowd of Beauxbatons girls to reach the Hogwarts champion. "Will you slow down for a minute?"

James glanced over his shoulder, saw the Headmistress approaching and told Fred and Roxanne to go on ahead to Charms. They were halfway down the corridor, and from where James stood, unmoving, he had a perfect view of Lily trying to curse Hugo's eyebrows off from inside a classroom.

James snickered.

"Mr Potter, I am an extremely old woman and I should not have to over-exert," McGonagall snapped as she finally caught up with James. "Now, if you'll follow me, I have something I have to show – _Is that your sister_?"

"No," said James casually, though his voice indicated otherwise. "And that is most certainly not Hugo Weasley."

Professor McGonagall glared at him for a second, then, in true Gryffindor style, grabbed him by the edge of his collar and dragged him down the staircase.

* * *

"What zee 'ell is zat?"

Dominique, James and Frederick Poliakoff stared at the Quidditch pitch. Or at least what was left of it.

"That," said McGonagall, "is a maze."

The Head of Magical Games and Sports, Oliver Wood, surveyed the mass of tangled hedges and mossy paths.

"It doesn't look like a maze," he said fairly, exchanging a look with Frederick Poliakoff.

"It's a maze," said the Headmistress through gritted teeth. "Now, my point is that you three champions will have to travel through this maze … to get the Triwizard Cup and consequently win the tournament."

"'Ow marvellous!" exclaimed Dominique, her pale eyes wide.

"Groovy," agreed Frederick.

"Cool," added James.

"Yeah, all right," said Oliver Wood. "Have you told them about the –"

A warning glance from McGonagall cut him off mid-flow, and instead Mr Wood settled with a nice view of the grass.

"Told us about what?" said James at once. "What's happening?"

McGonagall glared at Oliver Wood.

"Thank you," she muttered sardonically. "Your families," she then said in a louder voice, so the three teenagers could hear her, "are going to view the third task. Isn't that great?"

James made a non-committal noise, trying not to sound too disappointed.

"Marvellous!" said Dominique again, clapping her hands with glee.

"Spectacular," said Frederick glumly; though James could tell it wasn't, in the Durmstrang boy's eyes, spectacular at all.

* * *

"When're your parents getting here?" asked Fred conversationally, once James had returned to his lessons. The two boys were sitting with Roxanne and Lysander at the back of the classroom, revelling in the fact that they had no work to do: now that their NEWTs were over, their teachers had resigned to letting the seventh-years do whatever they want, provided they stayed inside the classroom.

"Dunno," said James, flicking his wand and setting his whole desk on fire. "Oh Voldemort – hold on a second –"

He leapt up, muttering charms under his breath, and at last the desk was returned to its former glory, graffiti and all. Fred, Roxanne and Lysander had fallen about laughing, and a nearby Ravenclaw boy was also sniggering with his girlfriend.

"Anyway," said James pointedly, sitting back down and ignoring the laughter, "McGonagall said they'd come sometime in the next week. The night before the third task, I think …"

Lysander started to choke on the end of the pencil he had been absent-mindedly chewing.

"Next week?" he gasped, tears streaming down his face. Roxanne helpfully slapped him on the back. "The third task is next week? And you're not worried?"

"Nope." James leaned back in his chair, looking up at the lighted ceiling.

"Dominique is though," volunteered Fred, also leaning back on his chair, but he was surveying his friends instead of the ceiling.

"How do _you_ know?" interrupted Roxanne rudely, staring hard at her brother. Fred blushed, confirming her fears.

"Oh – I, er, was talking to her before – you know, friend to friend …"

Roxanne snorted, and even Lysander looked on the verge of retorting.

"What?" cried Fred, throwing his arms out and almost toppling from his chair. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing," snapped Roxanne, glaring at her twin brother. "Only if you want to jeopardize James's chances of _winning_ –"

"The hell? This tournament isn't even about winning, it's about –"

"International magical cooperation," finished Lysander loudly, claiming the temporary attention of the whole room. "Now, if you'll excuse me," he said in a quieter voice, "I have a fourth-year I need to speak to who's a lot more mature than the three of you put together."

"What's got his wand in a knot?" muttered James as his best friend stormed out of the room. Roxanne shrugged, as completely baffled as he was, but it was Fred who answered.

"He's in love," he said casually.

"He's _what_? With who?"

"Whom," Fred corrected politely. "And that's not the point –"

"Yes it is," argued Roxanne. "If our best mate's in love then I think we have the right to know –"

"I'm sorry, but what makes _you_ the expert on love? As far as I'm aware, your last boyfriend _cheated_ on you –"

"Too far, Fred," yelled Roxanne, standing up; her face as red as her hair. "Too far!"

James groaned. With no Lysander to break things up, he had a feeling he was going to endure a great amount of this arguing for a good while.

And he did. As the rest of the week went by, Fred and Roxanne – who normally were on the best of terms – were having daily, if not hourly, rows; the last of which had resulted in a steaming vat of porridge being poured over a third-year's head.

Lily, who was the only one of their friends to have enough guts to ask them what was going on between the two twins, reported back to her eldest brother thirteen seconds later with a nasty gash across her cheek.

"They said to mind my own business," Lily told James, sitting down in the Gryffindor common room opposite Hugo.

"What did they do to you?" Lysander cried, joining the trio with a very shocked expression upon his face. Lily sniggered, shrugging casually.

"Roxanne just hit me. It's not that big of a deal, though her nails are _really _sharp ..."

"_Just_ hit you?" repeated Lysander, sitting beside James. "Lily that's –"

"– fine," finished Lily, glaring pointedly at him.

"Fine?" shrieked Lysander. James and Hugo covered their ears. "_Fine_? Lily, you now look like what Scorpius looked like back when Rose cursed him!"

Lily growled.

"I'll talk to you later," she said through gritted teeth, averting her gaze and hurriedly striking up a conversation with James and Hugo about their latest Quidditch match; something that only reminded Lysander about the time they had plotted together with Albus to steal the brooms back … and making Polyjuice Potion … and Lily kissing him in the bathroom …

He blushed.

"Lysander, are you all right?

"Yes," Lysander mumbled to Hugo, hiding his face in his hands.

"Yeah, whatever," said James, thinking he could sort out his best friend later. "Did you see the look on McKenzie's face when I grabbed the Snitch from right under his nose?"

"I know," agreed Hugo. "It was spectacular."

"Mm hm," murmured Lily, staring at Lysander. "Hey, Ly, do you want to take a walk?"

Lysander looked up, his gray eyes momentarily confused. Then, wordlessly, he stood up, took Lily's hand and walked out of the Portrait door.

"What is it?" he asked, once the two were free from Hugo and James's prying glances.

"Roxanne and Fred," said Lily simply. "Now walk."

The two headed down the long staircase, not speaking except for the occasional murmur of factual statements about the weather or a group of second-years that had just walked by.

"Roxanne's jealous," said Lily simply, holding Lysander's arm and pulling him through a tapestry, "about Fred and Dominique."

"Aren't the two twins, though? So why should it matter?" Lysander frowned, leaning against a wall as the pair came to the end of the shortcut.

"They are," Lily leaned on the wall opposite him, sighing heavily. "But Roxanne's used to being the only girl in Fred's life."

"What about you? You know Fred."

"You know what I mean," Lily rolled her eyes. "Roxanne and Fred have known each other since _before birth_. They've done everything together. Obviously it's natural that Roxanne's feeling a little jealous that Fred's now spending all his time with some other girl."

"Hang on," said Lysander suddenly, staring at Lily with suspicion. "How do _you_ know this?"

Lily gave sad little smile.

"Remember when James attended the Yule Ball with Rose? I mean, I love Rosie to bits, and I know it's not quite the same as Fred and Roxanne's situation, but ... it was still a bit weird watching him having a romantic relationship when I was normally the one girl he'd talk to."

Lysander shrugged, glancing around his surroundings. It was, admittedly, a rather dark shortcut they were in. He wondered how Lily had found out about this place – probably when she was still dating Scorpius Malfoy. Lysander gave a bitter laugh, and Lily looked at him oddly.

It was weird thinking about Scorpius and Lily. Lysander had kissed Lily – twice, in fact – but it was undoubtedly peculiar to think about Lily ever having a physical relationship with anyone else.

Lysander wondered whether Lily was planning on asking him out or not. He sort of hoped that she would – he didn't have much nerve himself, though James was sure to kick off about his younger sister dating his best friend.

"... but at the same time, we're best friends! I love James more than anything; if it weren't for him I'd never even know about these shortcuts!"

Lysander focused his attention back on to Lily.

"It wasn't Scorpius?"

Lily raised an eyebrow.

"What wasn't Scorpius?" she asked testily, folding her arms across her chest.

"You and Scorpius never came down this shortcut ..." Lysander blushed scarlet.

"As if we would!" Lily scoffed. "Are you jealous?"

Lysander stared at his shoes, mumbling something inaudible. Lily laughed out loud.

"Honestly, Ly, who do you take me for? I'm not some Beauxbatons chick who'd _put out_ on the first date."

Lysander gave her a wry smile.

"I know," he said fairly. "But ..."

"Whatever Scorpius and I got up to in our free time is none of your business," said Lily darkly, glaring at him from under her red hair. "I'll thank you to remember that."

Lysander fidgeted uncomfortably.

"I really like you, Lily," he said after a while. Lily nodded.

"I know."

"I've, er, been wondering if you'd like to step out with me sometime," he said quickly, instantly cringing the second the words were out in the open. _Dammit_, the Lorcan-sounding voice in his head said. _You've really screwed it up now_. Lily watched him for a long moment.

"Well, why don't you stop wondering and ask me?" she said finally, the corner of her mouth twitching. "Sometime."

Lysander grinned despite himself, pushing himself off the wall and leaning towards Lily. But she got there first – she held his tie and slowly pulled him towards her, their lips meeting gradually.


	18. Familiar Faces

There was little drama for the rest of that week, save a few more graphic arguments from Fred and Roxanne, so the days passed a lot quicker than either Dominique or Frederick would have preferred. James, on the other hand, welcomed the abrupt leap to Monday: so little had gone on since the exams that it was a nice change to have some excitement.

"James," said Roxanne, who was sitting between him and a fellow seventh-year girl, "the Headmistress is waving at you."

Since last week, Fred and Roxanne had avoided each other like the plague. They were so hateful towards each other that their cousins and friends had been forced to choose a twin: Hugo, Molly and Lucy were on Team Fred, along with Dominique; whereas James and, surprisingly, Rose were on Team Roxanne. Lily and Lysander –Lysander on the former's orders – were slyly passing between the two groups. Albus had abstained his vote.

"All right," James sighed, dropping his fork down onto his plate with a clatter. "See you in a minute."

"Bye, James!" Lily called cheerily, from where she was eating with Lysander and Albus. James raised a hand into the air as a gesture of goodbye, and then joined Frederick Poliakoff as the two boys headed over to McGonagall. Dominique was half-standing at the Ravenclaw table: she was frantically finishing to Rose a story about a _rendezvous_ she had had with Fred the previous morning before she walked over to McGonagall.

"Miss Weasley," said Professor McGonagall crisply once Dominique had arrived. "It's so nice of you to finally join us."

Dominique had the decency to blush, her red face contrasting startlingly with her pale blonde hair.

"If you three champions could follow me, please," the Headmistress continued, "through here."

James glanced behind him at the students of the Great Hall – some were watching the three champions talk to McGonagall, others, like Lily or Hugo, were absorbed in conversation with nearby friends.

"Excuse me, Miss," Frederick Poliakoff said gruffly, as the three teenagers followed McGonagall into a smaller chamber. "Where's Sir Vulchanov?"

"And Madame Lejeune?" piped up Dominique.

McGonagall silenced them with one of her sterner looks, before opening the door to the adjoining chamber and stepping aside to allow the others to enter before her.

They did so, the room eerily darker than the lighting of the Great Hall; but soon their eyes became accustomed to the darkness and they saw blurs … figures … people waiting for them.

"Your families," said Professor McGonagall, though this was perhaps unnecessary.

"_Maman_!" Dominique cried, running towards her mother, Fleur. "And Louis! Oh, zis eez most marvellous!"

Louis Weasley, his blonde hair glinting red form the effects of the dim lighting, grinned widely at his elder sister. A boy, who looked a year or two older than him, stood beside Dominique. The Beauxbatons champion flushed when she realised who it was.

"Lorcan." Dominique glared at the sandy-haired boy, who, if it weren't for the rugged, effortlessly cool clothing he wore, would be the spitting image of Lysander.

"Dominique," grinned Lorcan, slapping her on the back in a friendly manner, ignoring the dislike that was sent towards him. Dominique and Lorcan had never got along – even though Lorcan was Louis's best friend, Dominique grew tired of the numerous practical jokes the two boys pulled and the way Lorcan conducted himself. Lorcan put up with this, even making jokes about Dominique's dislike whenever she was around, and a few of their mutual friends and cousins – including Fred Weasley – had each claimed that Lorcan Scamander fancied her.

"How's the tournament going?" Louis winked at his sister, throwing an arm around her shoulders. Even though he was younger, he was a few inches taller than Dominique. "Kicked some ass?"

Both Dominique and Fleur winced at the language had had used, the two women striking up a more serious conversation about the tournament while Louis and Lorcan went over to badger McGonagall.

Frederick Poliakoff had wandered towards someone who was clearly his father: the two men looked exactly the same, save a few scars on Frederick's face that would not have been present had he not plunged his arm into a basilisk's mouth six months ago. The two men were also accompanied by a smaller girl dressed in red, who was supposedly Frederick's sister.

James, on the other hand, was still standing by the door, watching Dominique and then Frederick greet their families. Had it not been for a black-haired man calling his name, James would never have noticed his parents.

"Sup, Dad …" James swaggered over to his parents, winking lazily at Poliakoff's sister. She blushed scarlet, staring at James as he walked slowly towards his parents. Ted Lupin was there too, his hair a violent pink that contrasted with his easy-going attitude. Ted punched James lightly on the shoulder, the two young men sharing a laid-back grin; before James turned to his parents and allowed his mother to kiss his cheek.

"It's been brill, Dad!" James said, before his father could begin a wave of questions. "God, you should have seen me in the second task! Absolutely amazing, though if it weren't for Dommy's effortless courage –" to everybody's surprise James seemed to scoop Dominique out of thin air "– I wouldn't be standing here today."

He stifled a fake sob, making Ted laugh out loud and hug Dominique, his hair now a pale blue.

"Well, I expect we'd better get out of here," said James finally, after an enjoyable conversation with his parents about the previous two tasks. Ginny nodded, smiling widely, linking an arm through Ted's and leaving the chamber first. James and his father soon followed, Lorcan and Louis yelling loudly and jumping on his back in delight at meeting their friend.

* * *

"Teddy!" Lily shrieked, climbing out from the Gryffindor table and skipping over to her god brother. Ted laughed, resting a hand on Lily's red hair as she hugged him tight. Roxanne and Fred, friends for a brief second, had ran over to Louis and Lorcan and the quartet were laughing and joking loudly together, the two mischief-making pairs finally united.

Dominique had returned back to Rose on the Ravenclaw table; Frederick Poliakoff's father was talking loudly to McGonagall, his daughter sitting beside Lucy on the Gryffindor table and staring at James raptly; and Harry, Ginny, and, most reluctantly, Fleur were being crowded by large numbers of excited students wanting autographs.

Once the ruckus had calmed down, Fleur retired to sit next to her daughter; Harry took a seat next to Albus with Ted; Ginny started a conversation with her old friend Professor Longbottom; Lorcan went over to greet his twin brother, Lily linking arms with Lysander as he did so; and Fred and Roxanne remembered their dispute and loudly stormed away from each other as though they were contagious.

"It's so good to see you," Lysander said sarcastically, but concealing a grin for his twin brother. Lorcan winked lazily, throwing his arms back in a rough attempt of a stretch and began eyeing the girls around him.

Lily rested her head on Lysander's shoulder, something that Lorcan immediately picked up on.

"So, are you two together now?" He looked amusedly between the two newly blushing Gryffindors.

"No," Lily and Lysander said together, but Lorcan didn't believe them for one minute.

"Hey, Louis!" he called, waving frantically to his best friend, who was literally sitting on the Hufflepuff table, talking to his old school friends. Louis looked over, bid farewell to his friends and bounded towards the trio with an easy grace.

"What's up?"

"These two," Lorcan said darkly, pointing between Lily and Lysander, "have something going on between them."

Louis surveyed both of them carefully, ignoring the new wave of protests they each gave. At last, he snickered quietly.

"I'm not surprised," he said finally. "Come on, Lor, your mates want to see you."

* * *

"I HATE YOU!" screamed Roxanne, her face screwed up in anger. Fred, from the opposite end of the Great Hall, drew his wand and yelled back.

"I HATE YOU MORE!" he shrieked. "SECTUMSEMPRA!"

Roxanne ducked as the curse flew towards her, also drawing her wand.

The rest of the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall, parents and all, did not have a chance to evacuate the area before Roxanne yelled to the heavens and sent a jinx at her twin brother. Lucy had abandoned her third-year friends to run to her sister for protection. Even James was looking a bit scared, and that was saying something.

"DO YOU WANT TO KNOW SOMETHING, FREDDIE?" Roxanne screamed, casting a Shield Charm as Fred tried to blast a platter of chips in her direction. A first-year Hufflepuff was freely crying, and a Durmstrang girl hurried over to her to put an arm around the small child.

Professor McGonagall was having hurried words with Harry Potter, James's father, to see how best to put a stop to the twins.

"YOU -" Roxanne slashed the air forcefully, but Fred blocked it with a quick Shield Charm "- WERE - ONLY - BORN - BECAUSE - OUR - FATHER -"

But why exactly Fred was born was never discovered, because just as he even opened his mouth to curse his sister; Dominique stood up from the Ravenclaw table, ignoring her mother's frantic attempts to bring her back down, and screamed "PROTEGO!"

A Shield Charm expanded to fill the whole of the Hall, the twins' matching brown eyes glaring at Dominique.

"I'm sorry," whispered Dominique, though she was not sorry at all. "But you 'ave got to stop. Zer eez a second-year 'ere oo's writing a letter to 'is _maman_ to come and save 'im."

Every eye in the Great Hall swivelled towards the boy in question; who turned bright red and looked like he wished the ground would swallow him up.

"Do you not see what you are doing?" continued Dominique. "Zis is ridiculous ..."

"No, it's not!" shrieked Roxanne, looking like a demented woman. "Don't take the old moral high ground with _me_, Little Miss Perfect!"

Dominique opened her mouth to retort, her eyebrows contracting irritably, but before she could say a word James stood up boldly from the end of the Great Hall.

"Don't say a word," he warned her. "You're amazing, Dommie, but if you dare insult Roxanne ..." he rolled up his sleeves "... you have me to answer to."

"Oh for the love of Voldemort," Lily muttered, exchanging a look with Lysander and Albus as a few students cheered in appreciation; but Rose, from behind Dominique, had other ideas.

"And if you hurt Dominique," said Rose shrilly, staring at James wildly, "then _you_ have _me_ to answer to!"

"DON'T!" cried Scorpius, surprising everyone in the Great Hall. "Just stop! James, you wouldn't want to cross Rosie ... remember what she did to me earlier in the year?" He indicated a few pale scars on his face that had not yet completely faded.

The students were all wavering on the prospect of calming down, except for Louis and Lorcan, who were complaining loudly over the fact they weren't there to see Rose curse Scorpius.

"That's enough," fumed Professor McGonagall finally, turning to her students. Everybody fell silent, even Louis and Lorcan. "You two -" she pointed furiously at Fred and Roxanne "- go to my office. _Now_. The rest of you ..." McGonagall surveyed the scene, taking in everything before her" ... just go to your common rooms."

Nobody saw nor heard from the twins for the rest of the day. Lorcan and Louis were busy telling everybody who would listen that they personally saw Professor McGonagall perform the Cruciatus curse on Fred and Roxanne; Dominique had spent the afternoon in the library with Rose and Helena Davies, ranting about the unfairness of the situation; whereas Ted, Lily and Lysander were sitting in an unused classroom on the fourth-floor with James, trying to prepare him for the Third Task, which was to take place the following night.

"It will be fine," Lily said soothingly, from the window ledge she sat with Lysander. "Just think happy thoughts and try to focus."

James snorted, but Ted shrugged fairly.

"Lils has got a point, Jamie. Don't let anything distract you, all right?"

James nodded, trying to banish all his worries about Fred and Roxanne from his mind.

"Lily?" said Lysander quietly, ten minutes later once James and Ted were both engrossed in a Defence Against the Dark Arts manual. "Can you come with me, please?"

Lily nodded slowly, carefully putting down the Muggle comic book she had been reading onto the ledge beside her. She hopped down to the ground, shaking her red hair free of the loose knot it had been in. Lily followed Lysander out of the classroom, down a corridor and into a surprisingly spacey broom cupboard. Unfortunately, neither of them noticed James's eyes prick up when they both left the room.

"Look, Lily," Lysander said, leaning back on a wall. "I really, really like you. But I don't want to hide it from your brother anymore. Does it really matter what he thinks?"

Lily shrugged.

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "I care about him a lot, but –" She stopped as Lysander straightened up, staring at her intensely through his pale gray eyes.

"We need to tell him," he said firmly, and after a pause Lily nodded. This was all the confirmation either of them needed – without thinking, Lily threw her arms around Lysander and kissed him like she never had before, and he had one hand in her messy red hair and the other on the small of her back –

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"

Lily and Lysander jumped apart, the former clutching her heart dramatically.

"Good grief, James!" Lily stared at her brother, who had thrown the door to the broom cupboard open and was standing there with an unreadable expression on his face. Behind him, Ted was running frantically down the corridor to catch up. "You almost gave me a heart failure!"

James ignored this, and he also ignored Lysander's strangled dialogue that was a mixture of apologies, explanations and plain rambling.

"You," he pointed a finger at his best friend, "shut up. Lily, I know I can't tell you what to do anymore –"

"Too right, you can't," Lily muttered, but her brother had an extremely pained expression on his face. "Sorry. Go on."

"I know I can't tell you what to do or who to like," James started again, louder this time, as Ted finally caught up with him, "but – he's my best friend, Lee. And she," he turned to Lysander, glaring at him, "is my sister. My _younger_ sister, mind you."

"We know!" Lily shrieked. "Do you not think we've thought about that? And it's my life, thank you very much. You said yourself that you'd rather it was someone you like than _Scorpius_."

James rolled his brown eyes at his sister, but Lily remained glaring at him fiercely through her brown eyes.

"All right …" James said at last, and the other three all breathed a sigh of relief. Ted ran a hand through his platinum blonde hair and clapped James on the shoulder.

"Come on," he said calmly to james, nodding politely to Lysander. "You've got a Triwizard task to prepare for."

They walked away, and Lily turned to Lysander.

"We should go and help them," she said, smiling slightly. Lysander nodded silently, but stopped his friend as she started to walk out the door.

"Thank you," he said to her; but she just beamed at him, her red hair falling softly over her glasses.

* * *

Every person who goes to sleep expects a better tomorrow when he or she gets up the next morning. For some they wish that the current day stays with them for long as they are enjoying it and for others they want their nightmarish day to end, and expect the fresh morning to end all their troubles and bring new hopes.  
Frederick Poliakoff, however, was not expecting a better tomorrow at all.

The dawning of the day of the Third Task was a very excitable affair for most. First-years were seen, for once, actually conversing with older students; who were gambling the younger ones out of their money through bets. Frederick Poliakoff didn't need three guesses to know who had probably started the betting – he spent the entire morning shooting his ex-girlfriend shady looks from wherever he was situated.

The ringleader in question, Roxanne, was still in a heavy war with her twin brother. The other Gryffindor students had given up completely with trying to coax them to speak to each other – after being snapped at twice by each of them individually, even Ted Lupin had to admit to the possibility of the twins being torn apart forever.

"It's no use," he said gravely as he sat with his godparents and friends at dinner that night. "I think Fred and Roxanne are doomed."

"Don't be ridiculous," Albus snapped, holding up his hand to stop his parents from arguing with Ted. "The twins will be just fine. You'll see."

"I hope you're not thinking of pulling some sort of scheme to get them back together," his father said sternly, peering at his middle child from over the rim of his glasses. "Those things never work."

Lily snickered and winked at Albus, but the latter wasn't paying attention.

"No," he said calmly, cutting a chip in half and spearing one end with his fork. "Hugo and I have sorted something out, don't worry."

"Al_bus_!" everybody chorused, most staring with shock at him.

"I don't mean something that Lily or Jamie would concoct," Albus quickly said, as his reputation of being the 'good child' flashed before his eyes. "I'm not that stupid."

Lily hit him; whereas James suddenly appeared behind his younger brother's shoulder, having been mysteriously absent throughout dinner.

"Where've you been?" Lily asked loudly, but James sat himself down between his mother and sister and reached for some chicken.

"The Headmistress was just going over a few details for tonight," he told them, putting an abrupt end to the conversation about the twins. "You know, like what time we have to be downstairs ready."

"And when would that be?" Lily enquired, staring over at the Ravenclaw table after Dominique had raced into the Great Hall. The Beauxbatons champion was now relaying something rapidly to her mother, younger brother and Lorcan; and as Lily watched, Dominique kissed her mother on the cheek and raced from the Hall agitatedly.

"In ten minutes."


	19. The Third Task

"Would all students and the families of the champions please make their way down to the Quidditch Pitch," Professor McGonagall addressed the faces staring up at her, "where you will be led to the stands by Mr Filch." The Headmistress hurried down from her podium towards Madame Lejeune and Pyotr Vulchanov as everybody began to bustle about. Noticing a hesitation, Lily nosily turned to watch before her mother ushered her out of the Great Hall.

"This had better run smoothly," McGonagall said worriedly, watching the last student walk out of the Hall. Pyotr Vulchanov rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet and grinned widely.

"It will," he said cheerily, throwing an arm around Jacqueline Lejeune and winking at both women in turn. "We're three of the finest wizards this Tournament has ever seen - of course the Third Task will run smoothly."

"It had better," Professor McGonagall glared at Vulchanov's lack of modesty. "The last time the parents of Miss Weasley and Mr Potter were here in a Triwizard Tournament, a fellow champion died."

Jacqueline Lejeune stifled a sob and Pyotr Vulchanov patted her on the back hastily.

"Calm down, ladies," he said sternly. "Everything will be just fine."

* * *

"Come on, we'd better find seats," Albus said to his parents, as the caretaker showed them the way to the stands. Dominique's family had already gone ahead to the stands, and Frederick's small family were not far behind the Potters in line.

"Hi!" Hugo appeared in front of Albus as he wove his way through a mass of students. "Er, it's all systems go with the Roxanne and –"

"Hello, Hugo!" boomed Albus's father loudly, putting a smooth stop to Hugo's dialogue. "You look bright and happy today!"

Hugo stared at Harry Potter as though he had gone mad, not at all impressed with his uncle's out of character behaviour. As he stared at his uncle, however, Harry leaned forwards to speak in an undertone to his nephew and son.

"Lorcan and Louis are right there," he said through the side of his mouth, covertly pointing to a spot a few seats away, where, sure enough, Louis and Lorcan were sitting with Fleur, next to a Hufflepuff boy named Mark. "If they overhear your little plan, I am sure they would put a stop to it."

Albus rolled his green eyes and dragged his mother to sit down as his father and Hugo began a conversation, in the middle of all the hustle and bustle, about Quidditch.

"Where's Lily?" Albus's mother asked him, but no sooner had she spoken the words did her daughter appear, pulling Ted towards them by the hand. Ted's hair was now bright red, and as he protectively laid a hand on his god sister's back he looked like he could be Lily's older brother.

"Hi, Mum," Ted said breathlessly to his godmother, sitting down and waving to Lysander, who was sat behind the Potters, beside his twin. "We've just been talking to some Hufflepuff kids."

"My age," Lily corrected sternly. "Phoebe and Cedric are my age."

"I know them!" Hugo turned around excitedly, his freckled face alert. "What did they want?"

Lily shrugged, and it was Ted who answered.

"They were looking for a Hufflepuff fifth-year named Mark."

Hugo wrinkled his nose in confusion, unaware that the Mark in question was sitting beside Fleur at that very minute.

"Don't know who he is," Hugo said loftily. "Rose probably will, ask her. She's down there speaking to James." Hugo pointed down to the grassy terrain below, where the champions stood. Dominique was leaning against the stands, talking to Fred and a Beauxbatons boy; James was being hugged by Rose, whose red hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail; and Frederick Poliakoff was standing aimlessly beside Mr Filch, not listening as his family tried to give him advice.

As the Potters watched, Professor McGonagall walked into the arena with the other Heads of schools.

"The third and final Task will commence in five minutes," Pyotr Vulchanov yelled to the audience, to vast applause. He then walked to Frederick Poliakoff and shooed him towards the other champions.

"The Third Task," he began in an undertone as the champions stood around him, McGonagall and Lejeune, "is traditionally taken place in the form of a maze. Beware -" he held up a finger authoritively, staring at each of the three champions in turn "- this maze is not some Muggle concoction. This maze holds your worst fears, and I mean that literally. If you want to escape, send up red sparks with your wand, and a member of staff will find you immediately. Now, away with you!" Pyotr beamed at Madame Lejeune, offering her his arm. She accepted, and the two retreated to sit down.

James cheered, clapping his fellow two champions on their backs before bounding to the entrance, waving wildly to his family and fans. Dominique straightened her hair before gliding towards James; and Frederick Poliakoff jogged nervously to them both.

"As Miss Weasley has placed first thus far in the Triwizard Tournament -" Professor McGonagall spoke to the audience loudly above cheers and yells of appreciation for Dominique "- she will enter the maze first, closely followed by Mr Potter ..."

Ted and Lily whistled loudly as James bowed deeply, Lysander laughed and clapped with his brother, and a few third-year Ravenclaws shrieked loudly and actually screamed as James appeared to wink in their direction.

"... and then, finally, Frederick Poliakoff will follow on. At the sound of the cannon -"

Professor McGonagall was cut off by a loud bang, and she glared at Argus Filch who had fired the cannon without her consent.

After a second of deliberation, Dominique took one last look behind her, at the other two champions' faces, and walked into the maze.

* * *

Frederick, the last of the three champions to begin the Third Task, walked slowly down a mossy path. He had not seen either of the other two since entering the maze, so had no idea where they were or how they were doing.

The Durmstrang champion's face was littered with burns, the result of an unwanted run-in with a Blast-Ended Skrewt ten minutes earlier; and his shirt was torn in several places from an incident involving a rather manic-looking hedge.

Frederick turned a corner, his lit wand raised ahead of him cautiously. Silence surrounded him from all directions as he started to run. He did not like the silence; it meant he should be cautious. And being cautious meant there was going to be danger.

* * *

"Take that!" James yelled, firing a Stunning spell at a large Acromantula. He laughed and dodged lightly as it spat venom back at him. "Is that the best you can do?" he crowed, as the large spider pounced but stopped a few feet short of the seventeen-year-old.

James was about to send another cocky jinx at the spider, but he changed his mind entirely when it bared its fangs and jumped.

"Oh, bollocks," he said under his breath, hurriedly backing away and almost tripping over his feet. The large spider advanced, clicking its pincers at the Hogwarts champion.

James started half-running away, still watching the spider, who was gathering more speed than he was.

He glanced over his shoulder. The path behind him was empty ... and it was growing shorter and shorter as the Acromantula advanced on James. He was being led into a dead-end, and the only way out was through the massive beast.

James said a prayer to himself, swearing all the while under his breath as he went through any possible spells that came to mind. Nothing would work - the spider was too big for a simple hex, it would just bounce right off the hairy skin.

James's heart was pounding - there was only a few feet between the two enemies.

The Acromantula leered at its new prey, its eyes glistening hungrily. It raised its head ... James sank to the ground, covering his face with his arms; praying for it to be over quickly ...

"STUPEFY!"

James let out a yell as a jet of red light flew towards them, he ducked even further, not knowing what to expect. But soon the spider's clicks had grown silent and, hardly daring to hope, James raised his head.

"This eez not a game, Jamie." Dominique stood a mere few metres away from the stunned Acromantula; and as James stared at her in disbelief, she tucked her raised wand back up her sleeve and straightened her messy bun.

"Yes," James gasped, standing up shakily and brushing grass off his trouser legs. "Thank you."

"Don't mention eet," said Dominique, but there was something more than kindness in her voice, a hard undertone that James had never heard her use before.

* * *

Frederick Poliakoff continued running down a pathway. He had still not seen the other two champions; and had not met any other creatures or obstacles since the manic-looking hedge.

He sighed and stopped as he came to a fork in the maze.

Frederick peered left, and saw only emptiness. He looked right, and had a glimpse of what he assumed to be a large snake slithering past the path.

Frederick shuddered and took the left fork, not wanting to take his chances with a massive snake. He had never much liked snakes, not after his father had -

"Oh!"

Frederick jumped violently as he literally bumped into Dominique, who was closely being followed by James. Frederick clutched his heart and stared at the other two with shock.

"Hi," James offered, when an awkward silence descended upon the three of them. Each was hoping for some comfort in this maze of the unknown, but each was uncomfortably aware that the others were, in eventuality, competing against them.

"Me and Dommy decided to stick together," James explained, when nobody else spoke. "She saved me from this massive Acromantula, really, it was quite something ... and she admitted that it was probably wise if we walked together for a while."

"That's nice," Frederick shrugged, not following a word of what James had said. "Anyway ... it's probably more wise to split up. This is a competition, Potter."

James stared after him as he walked past them. Frederick did not look back.

"Well, that got rid of him," he said eventually, taking Dominique's hand and attempting to walk down a path; but the Beauxbatons champion didn't budge.

"Fredereek eez right," she said, as he looked around at her. "Eet eez a competition, Jamie. I do trust you, but at zee end of zee day ..."

James laughed wearily as his friend and momentary accomplice also abandoned him in the search for the Triwizard Cup.

He was all alone, now, and it was with hasty indecision that he finally continued walking.

* * *

The Hogwarts champion started to run down an empty pathway, his lit wand raised. He had not run into any more obstacles, but the path he was following seemed long and endless. James had a nasty thought about whether it would ever end - it looked like it would go on forever.

_Maybe I should turn back_, he thought, faltering as the hedge behind him appeared to move with an unfelt breeze. As he pondered his situation, the hedge started to close in behind him.

_Oh Voldemort, perhaps I shouldn't turn back at all_, he thought, stepping towards the infinite unknown and almost tripping over a stray root coming out of the soil. _Bloody hell_.

James ran towards the unknown, his feet pounding the mossy floor in time with his hurried breaths; the hedge was closing in on him from behind and his only option was what he did not know.

He wished he had Dominique with him as he ran alone, even Frederick would probably be company, albeit not much use. He - did - not - want - to - be - here - alone ...

And finally, as quickly as it had started, it stopped. James found himself on the edge of a large clearing, with a glistening lake in the centre. He reckoned he was in the Forbidden Forest, a thought that did not comfort him at all.

He looked back, and saw the edge of the maze close off behind him. There was no going back.

James took a deep breath, his heart leaping inside his chest from the exercise, and sat down on the rocky ground. His breaths formed clouds of cold vapour that hung in the air, slowly drifting away and disappearing.

That wasn't right - it was the middle of Summer. It wasn't supposed to be cold.

But even as James came to a realisation over his circumstance, the lake slowly began to freeze over.

He leapt to his feet, raising his wand with terror. He could hear footsteps falter behind him, but he kept staring into the darkness.

"Jamie!"

James turned around; but Dominique, the source of the footsteps, was pointing forwards, her face pale and frightened. James turned back.

He did not like what he saw.

A mass of dark, cloaked figures were gliding towards the two champions, their presence seeming to draw everything out of the air in rattled breaths.

Dementors.

James swore loudly, and he even heard Dominique agree faintly from behind him.

The Dementors grew closer; and both of them raised their wands at the same time.

"Expecto Patronum!" James said, but his words were empty and nothing was produced but a wisp of silvery smoke. Out of the corner of his brown eyes he saw Dominique's own Patronus Charm twist and fade into emptiness.

They were going to die.

Fear was seeping into every corner of the two teenagers' minds, and perhaps the Dementors could sense it as they drew closer ... excited, eager for new souls.

"Not on my watch!" someone yelled from behind the two, someone who shoved James out of the way and screamed, "_Expecto Patronum_!"

A large, silvery badger erupted from the end of their saviour's wand, and it bounced towards the Dementors, fending them off.

"Come on," Frederick Poliakoff said comfortingly, lowering his wand slightly as he looked between James and Dominique; as though this was not a matter of life and death, but a simple obstacle in a maze. "You can do it."

"Expecto - expec ..." Dominique whispered, starting to give up. Though Frederick's Patronus was strong, it was starting to fade in midair before them. The Dementors started to descend again, only after one thing.

"Nikki, you can do it," Frederick Poliakoff told her, though his olive eyes stared at her in desperation.

James also raised his wand determinedly towards the Dementors as Poliakoff's badger Patronus twirled in the misty air.

But it was no good - he could not think happy thoughts, could not raise the willpower to fight anymore. He was tired and weak and almost welcomed the Dementors' embrace.

"Potter, I don't mean to hurry you ..." Frederick lied, wincing as his Patronus seemed to flicker.

James took a deep breath and braced himself.

It was of Lily, little Lily, his best friend and sister, that he thought when he raised his wand to the sky and screamed, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A large, silvery stag erupted from the end of his wand; as James stared, fascinated, at it, the stag turned around and looked right into his eyes. James thought he saw something in the stag's eyes, a sort of understanding between the animal and its conjurer. The moment passed, and James's Patronus joined the other; and slowly, eventually, the Dementors started to slow down.

"Dominique, we need you!" James screamed, wildly looking around, but Dominique had fallen to the floor and was shaking, her face a ghostly white.

"Nikki," Frederick started, but Dominique shook her head forcefully and held it in both hands. James ran to her side, grabbed her wand, and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!"

A silvery fox escaped from Dominique's wand, it bounced to her side before leaping into the air beside the badger and the stag. The Dementors fell back as the three Patronuses pushed them away, and soon enough they were retreating.

The air fell silent.

"Can't thank you enough," James said shakily to Frederick, clapping him on the back as the badger, stag and silver fox faded away into the darkness. "You just saved our lives."

"It was nothing," Frederick said breezily, smiling slowly at James. "It's the one thing I'm actually good at, a Patronus Charm."

"I'll say," James said, starting to laugh. "Bloody hell, that was brilliant! Wasn't it, Dommy ... Dommy?"

The two boys walked towards Dominique, each holding out a hand to help her up. Dominique raised her head and looked at them, her gray eyes troubled and used their support to stand up.

"Merci," she said simply, her voice laden with gratitude but trembling. Both boys shrugged; James put an arm around her shoulders. He had never noticed how thin she was.

"It was nothing," the two boys said together, and both of them began to laugh; Dominique giggled hesitantly and shakily, but soon she smiled.

"We'd better get going, then," James gasped ten minutes later, tears streaming down his cheeks. "We have a Tournament to win."

* * *

"They've been gone for ages," Albus complained, his head resting on Rose's shoulder. His father was talking to Professor Longbottom, who had climbed up the stands to sit next to them; Lily, Hugo, Ted and Roxanne had started a game of Exploding Snap; Ginny was conversing with Fleur in hushed voices; and Louis, Lorcan and Fred had started a sing-along with a few nearby students.

"I know," Rose replied simply, smiling to herself. "They'll be back soon, I think."

"Who do you reckon will win?" Lucy, who was sitting beside Rose with her older sister, turned to the pair, her eyes shining excitedly.

"James," Molly said immediately, as Rose stopped to think. "I have complete faith in him."

Lucy stared at her with interest, but Rose disagreed.

"I disagree," she said. "Dominique will win. She's more ..." Rose stopped, searching for the right adjective, but the others understood.

"Ooh, I like this song," Lucy said cheerily, as Lorcan, Louis and Fred began a chorus of an ancient Weird Sisters song. "Come on, Al, let's join in!"

Lucy grabbed Albus's hand and pulled him towards a Hufflepuff boy named Mark.

"She so likes Albus," Rose rolled her eyes at their retreating backs, and Molly giggled, listening to the students behind her belt out the song.

Ted stopped the game of Exploding Snap to listen, Lily laughed and Roxanne tried to pretend she was not interested in what her twin brother was doing. Hugo just watched them all knowingly.

Finally, as Fred began to lead a few lines of a number by a vintage Muggle band, Roxanne could stand it no longer.

"_Tell me why_," she sang along wearily, getting to her feet and pulling Lily up with her.

"_Ain't nothing but a heartbreak_!" the audience kept singing, but Fred had stopped, frozen in his tracks. Lily skipped over to Lysander and threw an arm around his neck, watching the twins expectantly. Hugo grinned to himself. Any ... minute ... now.

"_Oh, tell me why_!" Fred sang, grinning at his sister, who raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, whatever," she said, sitting back down. Lily gave a strangled noise and stared up at Lysander; and Hugo looked as though he had been slapped in the face.

"That wasn't supposed to happen," he muttered to Albus, pulling him back down to sit with Rose and Molly; ignoring Lucy's protests.

"Tell me about it," Albus hissed, his green eyes surveying the two twins.

"Well," Rose said loftily, "it looks as though they'll never speak again. Well in, boys."

Molly punched her lightly on the arm, but Hugo wasn't listening.

"Just you wait," he said determinedly. "Just you wait."

* * *

"I'll miss you two," Frederick Poliakoff said sadly as the trio walked slowly down a pathway. They had, after a long journey through the forest, found themselves back in the maze again, something which secretly comforted all of them.

Dominique murmured her agreement; but James said nothing, swinging an arm over each champion in turn and looking between them.

"I agree," he said, imitating Dominique's French accent and smiling widely. "Eet 'as been a pleasure knowing you, Fredereek, Domeeneek ..."

Frederick laughed, ducking his head down and then staring ahead of him curiously.

"I say," he stopped in his tracks as they came to a fork in the paths, and the other two stared with confusion at his face. "Are we near the centre of the maze?"

James's breath caught and Dominique's pale eyes widened.

"I do believe," James breathed, walking to the right path; as Dominique stumbled walked to the left and Frederick stayed facing the middle, "you're right. _Mes amis_," he said, mimicking Dominique's French accent, "are you ready?"

He squared his shoulders and winked at Frederick. Dominique turned to the two boys quickly.

"I am sorry for before," she said, referring to the conflict with the Dementors. "I remembered all zeese bad zings from a time in my life when I was -"

"Is that why you're so thin?" James interrupted, but Dominique's face grew dark and she turned away. Frederick exchanged a look with the Hogwarts champion, mouthing something that James could not make out.

"Ready," Frederick said instead, out loud, stepping one leg back and leaning forwards, like a sprinter ready to race. "Y'all set?"

"Set," Dominique agreed firmly, tucking her wand fiercely into her messy blonde hair and staring ahead.

"Before we begin," Frederick began, holding his hands up to indicate the other two to listen, "I just want to say that whoever wins, I think that -"

"GO!" Dominique screamed, and even Fredrick had to laugh as all three raced away, each of their respective paths empty so far save for themselves. Eventually, Dominique's whimpers and James's cheers faded away into silence as their routes twisted away from each other.

* * *

"SECTUMSEMPRA!" James yelled, running so fast down the mossy path he didn't even know what he had hit. He thought it might have been a Flobberworm, but he was not going back to check. His pathway was curving to the right slightly; and his scruffy trainers pounded the floor as he ran.

The trio had all been racing each other for five minutes, and already James had passed a Boggart with Lily-esque fearlessness; Frederick had successfully stunned at least three Blast-Ended Skrewts; and Dominique had battled her way out of a run-in with a sphinx with cool logic and initiative.

Nonetheless, James was having serious doubts about whether there even was an end to this Task. When he had joined forces with Dominique before, the two had covered plenty of ground area and had still not reached the centre of the maze.

_This was ridiculous. Trust the three Heads of the schools to come up with an impossible maze_.

_I bet it was that Vulchanov who decided this_, James thought, kicking a pebble out of his way. _What a bully. He's supposed to be a changed man, but .._.

* * *

"Hey, isn't that -" Hugo stood up quickly and squinted at the grassy ground down below, tugging on his sister's sleeve as well.

"Fleur!" Rose shrieked, as a bright blue light pierced their eyes and a figure dropped down onto the grass, the Triwizard Cup clutched in their hand. "Uncle Harry! Oh my goodness ... come on!" she grabbed Hugo's hand and dragged him down the steps. She could hear Lorcan and Louis behind her, and in front she could just make out Fleur's icy blonde hair weaving its way down the stands.

Dominique, who was lying face down on the grass, groaned and started to push herself up. She squinted ahead of her - it looked like the entire crowd was racing towards her, but as her pale eyes focused she realised it was a significantly smaller group who had got there first. She laughed weakly as her mother pulled her up gently; scrambled strings of French weaving out of Fleur's perfect mouth, getting lost in the air.

"Louis," Dominique said quietly, falling into her younger brother's arms and resting her head on the inside of his shoulder. Louis smiled to himself, kissing the top of her forehead before pushing her slightly towards their mother.

"Go on, chick," he said softly. "Mum wants you."

Dominique laughed, but didn't have time to do much of anything - the three Heads of schools were running towards her, along with most of the school. The Beauxbatons champion saw Argus Filch try to restrain the crowds and direct them back to their seats.

"Congratulations," Professor McGonagall said as Madame Lejeune wrapped her arms around her student.

"Thanks," Dominique said, her voice muffled. "I have won, haven't I?"

"Yes, Miss Weasley, you have won," McGonagall replied, smiling thinly.

Dominique laughed, the noise sounding weird to her ears, and threw her arms around Fred and Ted Lupin. After a moment, Ted gently eased his way out of her grasp and left the two to embrace alone. Lily winked at him and slipped her small hand into his.

"Jay!" she screamed a moment later, as two boys appeared at the edge of the maze, covered in cuts and bruises. She dragged Ted along behind her, racing Rose and her mother to get to James first.

"'M all right," James mumbled, as the three women embraced him. "Hey, Ted. Did Dommy win?"

Ted nodded; Frederick wandering over to Dominique's entourage as Lysander and Roxanne joined James, Roxanne casting him a sort of understanding look as he went.

"Yeah, she did," Lysander gave James a hug before stepping back to let Roxanne do the same. "Well done anyway, mate."

James laughed, clapping Lysander on the back before starting to walk towards Dominique. After a few steps he paused and looked back at his friends and family - his father, Albus and Fred having now joined them.

"C'mon, Lils." He held out his hand, a hint of a smile playing with his lips. Lily grinned, her small face lighting up as she ran to her eldest brother.

"Al!" she waved her free hand, surprising everybody with an outward show of affection for Albus. Albus looked worriedly at his mother, who gave him a slight push towards his siblings. Eventually Albus joined them, and the trio continued to walk away towards the awaiting crowd.

"They look a right sight," Ted said fondly, throwing an arm over Fred and Rose's shoulders respectively. Roxanne snickered, weaving her arm through Lysander's; and Hugo interlaced himself between his aunt and uncle, who both gave him a hug.

"Poor kids," Fred agreed, and Rose giggled in reply.

* * *

"Nikki ... Nikki!"

Dominique turned away from a Beauxbatons girl called Marie and towards the hand that was resting on her shoulder. Frederick Poliakoff stared down at her, his olive eyes troubled.

"What eez eet?" Dominique asked softly, but Frederick just nodded his head to the right, to where Professor McGonagall stood with Lejeune, Vulchanov and the Head of Gryffindor House, Professor Longbottom.

"Come on," he said, and the Beauxbatons champion bid farewell to her friends and followed Frederick to the four members of staff.

"Wait!" Dominique threw out a hand to stop Frederick in his tracks. "What about Jamie?"

Frederick frowned thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I think you have a point ..."

"I will go," Dominique said boldly, and before the Durmstrang champion could make a sound, she had turned and disappeared into a group of Hufflepuff fourth-years.

"Jamie!" she called, anxiously thanking a student who congratulated her. "Listen, 'ave you seen - oh, there 'ee eez!"

James turned as he heard her shrieking; he waved goodbye to his siblings and jogged over to her.

"Yo," he said, whipping his red side fringe out of his eyes and sultrily winking at a Hufflepuff girl he recognized. It was Phoebe Hill, the fourth-year who had helped clear up after the food fight earlier in the year and had also been asked, in a fashion, by Hugo Weasley to the Yule Ball. Phoebe blushed and James pushed his glasses up his nose, smiling at her.

"Oh, come on!" Dominique grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the staff. "Stop flirting ... _mon dieu_!"

James laughed as they reached the four adults, but quickly fell silent when he noticed their hard stares.

"It is our belief," Professor McGonagall started sternly, "that the three of you, somehow, managed to exit the maze and find yourselves in the middle of the Forbidden Forest. Do you confirm this?"

James glanced at Dominique, whose pale eyes were widened with apologies.

"I am sorry, Jamie," she pleaded. "But when I came out of zee maze your 'Eadmistress asked me about eet and …"

"Huh," said James, rolling his hazel eyes but throwing Dominique a smile to show he was not that annoyed. "Teacher's pet," he then said under his breath, just loud enough so Frederick could hear him. The Durmstrang champion laughed appreciatively; and winked at Dominique, who had no idea what was going on.

"Love ya really, cuz," said James, swinging an arm around Dominique's small shoulders and grinning widely. Pyotr Vulchanov loudly coughed, staring sternly at the three of them.

"Thank you," he said icily, once they had all quietened down. "The point is, if anything had happened to you … or Hogwarts's security isn't as, ahem, secure as we think …"

Professor McGonagall glared at him.

"How dare you," she said huffily, "ever assume that my school is anything but –"

"You misunderstand me," Pyotr Vulchanov cut across her smoothly. "I was merely suggesting that if there are any flaws, we must know. Surely, Minerva, you would realise that too, after what happened years ago."

"Why, what happened years ago?" James butted in quickly, his hazel eyes wide with anticipation from behind his glasses.

Professor McGonagall wrapped her tartan shawl tighter around her chest and glared at Vulchanov, but the Durmstrang Headmaster carried on regardless.

"Years ago," he began in a mysterious voice, "there was a boy named Cedric Diggory. He, along with –"

"My father!" James practically screamed. "Yeah, I know this! Dad and this Diggle boy –"

"Diggory," Professor McGonagall corrected, her nostrils flaring. "Now, if you don't mind … what happened when you entered the forest?"

James fell silent and looked at Frederick. Frederick looked at Dominique. Dominique stared at the floor.

"Dementors," Frederick said after a long pause, and Dominique gave a whimper and shuddered. Madame Lejeune drew a sharp intake of breath and stared wildly at them all.

"Dementors?" she repeated, her face white.

"Yup," said James, looking behind him for a sign of his siblings. "How long will this take?"

"This is very serious, Potter," Vulchanov growled. "Minerva, I shall go and contact Minister Shacklebolt; and if you –"

"Holy Voldemort!" James yelped excitedly. "It's the flying Ford Anglia!"

"What?" shrieked Professor McGonagall, spinning around and quite forgetting who she was. "Oh my …"

"Dad!" James yelled towards the crowd, as a light blue Ford Anglia, battered and worn, appeared at the edge of the stands. "Dad, quick!"

Lily ran towards her eldest brother with her father (Albus jogging to keep up from a short distance behind) and stopped in her tracks. She stared, wide eyed and gobsmacked, before tugging on the edge of her father's sleeve excitedly.

"Dad, Daddy, is that …?"

"Yes," said Ginny fondly, who had caught up with her family. "That's the car your father flew to school in with your Uncle Ron."

Dominique clapped her hands together with glee, laughing freely and throwing her arms around Lily from behind.

Frederick, who felt as though he was missing something, coughed audibly.

"Excuse me," he said politely to James, "but what exactly _is_ that?"

"_That_," said Albus pompously, having finally reached his siblings, "is a Muggle Ford Anglia 105e deluxe. A car, if you will. It can fly."

"All right," snapped Pyotr Vulchanov, clicking his fingers for attention. Everybody turned to look at him, Lily only somewhat willingly. The Ford Anglia was gaining a lot of attention from the crowds of students: those who had began to disperse back into the school had ran out to view the exciting display. Pyotr Vulchanov walked briskly towards the car, creating a pathway ahead of him as students moved out of his way. The others followed him.

"Listen up," he said sharply, turning away from the car to face the onlookers. "There is nothing to see here. Show's over. Go back inside and –"

"Pyotr!" Madame Lejeune screamed, as the car began to zoom forwards, shards of glass flying out of its smashed windows. Pyotr Vulchanov moved swiftly out of the way, but the Ford Anglia was not heading towards him anymore.

"Phoebe …" A Hufflepuff fifth-year named Mark began to back away, but his fourth-year friend was not paying attention at all to the car that was moving towards her – instead, she was chatting animatedly with Hugo, Helena and her friend Cedric.

Hugo's eyes flashed as he saw what was going to happen; he grabbed those nearest to him – Helena and Cedric – and dragged them out of the way. Phoebe Hill turned, her brown hair falling softly over her terrified face as the Ford Anglia whooshed towards her …

"NO!" Pytor Vulchanov yelled, breaking free of Jacqueline Lejeune's grasp and diving in between the car and Phoebe.

Nobody had time to scream before the jarring crunch of breaking glass and the stark shriek of metal bending in ways it was never designed to hit the Durmstrang Headmaster, who toppled over the Ford Anglia's bonnet and lay, unmoving, on the grass behind.


	20. The Afterlife Of The Party

"Party in the Great Hall!" Roxanne yelled, swigging a Butterbeer with one hand and throwing the other around the nearest Beauxbatons boy within reach. She was standing by the large marble staircase in the Entrance Hall, and already the scene had escalated into that of an out of control house party. A few Durmstrang girls were crying on the steps of the staircase, mascara trailing down their cheeks; an army of Gryffindor boys had started jeering at the paintings that decorated the walls, the occupants of which were grumbling and complaining as the boys poked at their watercolour suits; and in the Great Hall, Hugo, Albus and Lucy had started a musical-esque rendition of popular Abba songs. Hugo was dancing on the Slytherin table, Albus was serenading a Beauxbatons girl and Lucy was jiving at the front of the Hall, singing to Professor Longbottom, who was desperately trying to coax her down from the staff table.

Dominique shrieked with laughter as she, Rose and Helena toppled drunkenly into the Hall, the girls' usually perfect appearance in various states of disarray from the effects of the drink.

"Hiya Lils," Rose giggled; and Lily, who was standing, sober, next to Lysander and Molly inside the Hall, gave Rose a strange look.

"Have you been drinking, Rosie?" she wrinkled her nose as Dominique collapsed on a Hufflepuff fifth-year named Mark and embraced him steamily.

"No!" Rose grinned widely and waved a bottle of Firewhisky in Lysander's aghast face. "Wan' shome?"

"No thank you," Lysander said politely, taking the alcohol out of Rose's hand and setting it down on a ledge behind him. "Come with me, Rosie."

"Where we goin'?"

Lysander exchanged a look with Molly and Lily before dragging Rose over to Professor Longbottom, where a large crowd of students had gathered. The Head of Gryffindor house was doing his best to diffuse the mania, but unfortunately rounding up the drunkest students had earned him floods of vomit seeping over the stone floor next to where he was situated.

"Got another for you, sir," said Lysander, sitting Rose firmly down in the Headmistress's seat. Rose groaned and flopped her head down onto the table, and within minutes was fast asleep. "Where are the other teachers and parents? I'm sure Dominique's mother wouldn't like her pouncing on the nearest boy in sight."

Professor Longbottom sighed wearily, wiping his brow.

"The Headmistress and Madame Lejeune have gone to St Mungos to visit Pyotr Vulchanov; Poliakoff's family have already left ... Mr Poliakoff said something about an urgent business call and of course he couldn't leave his young daughter in England by herself; and Fleur, Ginny, Harry and that Ted Lupin boy are helping me with this lot." He jabbed a finger behind him at the drunken students. "Fleur and Ginny are in the Hospital Wing helping the matron tend to the students and the men are transporting the students there."

"Want any help?" Lysander offered, swinging an arm around a Ravenclaw girl as she tried to sneak away. Professor Longbottom nodded.

"That would be great," he said. "If you could please try to calm everybody down ... that would be brilliant."

Lysander nodded confidently, marched towards Molly and Lily and explained the situation. Within seconds Molly was heading towards the nearest group of sobbing girls; Lily had forcefully barged her way between Louis, Lorcan, Fred and Roxanne, who were causing most of the uproar and seemed to be the origin of the alcohol supply; and Lysander had grabbed Albus and Hugo by the scruffs of their necks and was busy dragging them up the marble staircase to the Hospital Wing.

"All right, guys," Lily snarled, after she fondly watched Lysander telling Albus in no uncertain terms what he was to do with his drink next time. "This party's over. Unless you want to spend the next year repeating your NEWTs - yes, Louis, Lorcan, that applies to you as well - then I suggest you pack it up and help me settle this."

"Says who?" Fred shrieked, swaggering forwards towards Lily and almost tripping over Lorcan. "Nothing's gone wrong! Who are you, my mother?"

"_Nothing's gone wrong_?" Lily repeated venomously, and even Roxanne recoiled from her glare. "Dominique's over there snogging the face off some _boy_ -"

That shut Fred up at once. His face fell and he retained a stony glare as he stormed towards Dominique and a Hufflepuff fifth-year boy named Mark; Roxanne fighting inwardly with herself before abandoning all pretence and hurriedly following him. Louis and Lorcan were soon the only ones left to face the wrath of Lily Potter.

"Now," she started, her small frame not matching up to the muscular ones of the ex-Hogwarts boys, but she still seemed to be infinitely more powerful. "Lorcan, get rid of this alcohol and then start clearing up the mess at the front of the Hall; Louis, you go and find James. I'd have thought he'd have been drinking, but I can't find him anywhere."

Louis and Lorcan nodded meekly before doing what she said immediately. Lily turned around and scanned the Great Hall for any other large source of commotion.

Sighing wearily, she began to walk towards a gang of Ravenclaw girls who clearly could not handle their drink.

* * *

Louis walked down the corridors he remembered so well from his Hogwarts days, nodding coolly at a portrait of Helga Hufflepuff. So far, he had combed the entire grounds of Hogwarts for a sign of James, but had not yet found him. There was only one place left to check; and if he knew James at all - which he did, he was right at choosing it to look in last.

Louis braced himself, shuddered and walked into the library.

* * *

"I think that's the last of them," Lysander told Professor Longbottom once he had returned from taking a Durmstrang boy up to the Hospital Wing. The Great Hall was virtually empty, save for a few students magicking the mess into oblivion; and Molly and Lily, who were sprawled, exhausted in a corner; Lily's head resting on Molly's lap.

"Thank Merlin," the Herbology teacher said, smiling thinly. "They'll be sobered up in no time; Fleur Delacour really does know her stuff."

Lysander nodded, choosing not to remind Longbottom that Fleur _Weasley_ "really did know her stuff"; and reflected on the many times his twin brother and Louis had stumbled, drunk, back to Shell Cottage late at night; Lysander, Fleur and Victoire waiting up for them to finally come home. Though he was not part of the Weasley family, Lysander felt it necessary to look after his reckless twin brother, who, after all, was best friends with Louis anyway; so as Lorcan spent most of his time at Shell Cottage with his best friend, Lysander was left to travel from one place to the other with his father to pick him up.

"Where's my brother? I thought he was clearing up." Lysander asked Professor Longbottom at last.

"He's gone to help in the Hospital Wing," Longbottom told him. "Maybe there's hope for him yet."

Lysander smiled to himself, his gray eyes warm.

"Yeah," he said fondly. "Maybe there is."

* * *

"Hello?" Louis called, switching on the lights in the library and stepping forwards. He had never willingly been in this place before, except for one time with Lorcan, Roxanne and Fred when the quartet had set the place on fire to celebrate Rowena Ravenclaw's birthday.

Louis crept forwards, his ears straining for any sound of voices. At last, as he climbed the staircase to the second level, he heard low murmurs coming from behind a bookcase.

"Do you reckon Dominique was, you know ... _anorexic_?"

"Dunno ... maybe Louis would know ..."

"Yeah ..."

Louis coughed loudly, his temper flaring as he stepped out from the other side of the bookcase and stared at James and Frederick Poliakoff, who were sitting at a small study table there.

"Can I help you?" he said coldly. Frederick glanced around nervously, but James looked at Louis with interest.

"Yes, have a seat."

He drew a chair out and beckoned him into it.

"You know," Louis started, not moving an inch, "I'm not going to let the two of you bitch about my big sister behind her back. If you've got something to say, say it to her -"

"We're not bitching about Nikki," Frederick explained slowly, his olive eyes troubled. "We care about her."

Louis examined him for a long moment, before finally sitting down in the chair James had pushed towards him.

"What do you want to know?" he said tiredly, surrendering to the wills of the other two.

"Why is she so skinny?" James began immediately. "I never saw her as _thin_ before now, but when I put my arm around her ..."

"Of course you never saw her as _thin_," Louis interrupted, rolling his eyes as though this was obvious. "The Beauxbatons uniform is layered, right? So it softens her up a bit. And it's not like, you know, it's still happening. She's normal now."

Frederick Poliakoff shifted uncomfortably, but James wasn't finished.

"Then what _did _happen?"

"She was hospitalized and shit. Yeah, she had an eating disorder, but do you know the thing that bothers me the most? It's the way everybody who isn't affected, whether by themselves or a family member, is so naive as to what eating disorders actually are. It's not a stupid diet gone wrong, my sister didn't have a say in it after a while - it was ruling her life, and she couldn't just _choose_ to eat."

"That sucks," James said, and the other two boys nodded in agreement. "But why didn't I find out? What with her being my cuz and everything."

Louis blinked.

"She went to a private rehabilitation centre in France, near her school," he explained. "She still wanted to learn, even though she was dying. And our mother thought it would be best it wasn't broadcasted to the whole world. No offence, mate."

"What about Victoire?" James asked, stretching and accidentally knocking a book off the shelf. Frederick bent down to pick it up kindly.

"Tori was the same. The few people who she felt she needed to tell, like Teddy, she told. The rest ... she didn't."

* * *

"You cannot tell me what to do!" Dominique shrieked madly, storming down a corridor at random as Fred and, unknowingly, Roxanne followed her hurriedly.

"Well, that may be," yelled Fred, as they turned a corner, "but I still care about you!"

"What?" Dominique screamed. "No you don't! You 'ardly know me!"

"I do! Let me know you better, then," Fred snapped, trying to grab Dominique's wrist but she swung it out of reach and hurried her pace. "Dom, please ..."

"I do not need you!" At last she stopped and turned to face him; her blonde hair falling wildly over her pale face. "I won zee bloody Triwizard Tournament, for 'eavens sake! I am perfectly ... perfectly ..."

"Fine, yes," Fred rolled his eyes. "I've heard that all before from Roxanne, but I know she needs me. She wouldn't be able to survive without me, not really. And I can't survive without her. So don't make out that you're invincible, Dominique, because I know for a fact -"

Dominique rushed towards him, grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him.

"I thought," Fred said breathlessly, once the two parted, "you said you didn't need me."

"I do not," the Beauxbatons champion shrugged, her face still inches from his. "But I do want you; I do like talking to you. You 'ave been a comfort to me zeese last few weeks, and I know I 'ave come between you and your seester, but ..."

"It's all right," a casual voice sounded from behind the pair. The two turned, wide eyed, only to see Roxanne leaning against the wall, smirking and examining her fingernails. "I forgive you."

"What are you doing here?" Fred gasped, staring at his twin sister in shock.

"I followed you," Roxanne shrugged. "Wanted to check you were okay. Clearly you are, though ..." She smirked again, walking towards the pair. Dominique, who still had her arms around Fred, blushed scarlet and said nothing.

"Yes, I'm all right," Fred said stiffly. "Thanks for caring, though."

Roxanne pulled a face.

"I'm your sis, what do you expect?"

Fred beamed, as finally all the walls they had built between them in the past few weeks crumbled to the ground.

"C'mere, you," he held an arm out to Roxanne, who skipped towards him and kissed his forehead firmly. "Ew ... gerrof!"

Roxanne grinned and winked at Dominique, and together the two girls began kissing every inch of Fred's face they could, while he squirmed and tried to push them off.

Together, the trio collapsed in a heap on the floor, all three of them laughing uncontrollably; Fred still trying to free himself before he gave in and just laughed with them.

* * *

**[A/N]: A bit of a short chapter this time, sorry for that. By the way, thank you for all the lovely reviews and favourites! It makes writing this worthwhile; I love each and every one of you readers. I will reply to your reviews, I promise, I just can't remember which I've done already (so if I reply to you twice, I'm sorryyyy).**

**In other news, Microsoft Word doesn't recognize Pyotr Vulchanov's name (no surprises there). But instead, guess what they suggested as a replacement? VOLCANO.**

**It made me laugh, it probably won't for you, but just thought I'd let you know.**

**QUESTION: Should I do a bonus chapter, like "Nineteen Years Later ... Again"? And you'll see the NEXT generation going to Hogwarts? Like, Lily's and James's and Lysander's kids?**

**If so, any ideas for names? I've got a few written down, but ... Oh, they have to be lovely names, by the way. LOL, discrimination on names ... But, you know, names that these losers would have for their children. Hey, I'm the author, I'm allowed to call them losers. Though they're amazing.**

**Also, favourite character? So far James has a load of fans, but may I have your top three characters? Anyone from Lysander Scamander to the Beauxbatons boy who spilt pumpkin juice down his front in the Delegation Feast.**

**Thank you!**


	21. Almost The End

"I can't believe this year is over," Albus complained as he stood in the Gryffindor common room, packing his trunk that he had brought down from his dormitory along with all his clothes and books. Roxanne, Lily and Lucy were also there; the three girls sorting out Albus's clothes into neat piles. Well, Lucy's pile was neat. Roxanne's, on the other hand, could hardly be called a pile. More like a messy heap.

"It's not even over yet," Lily laughed. "We've still got, like, a week before we break up."

Albus shrugged, taking a stack of jumpers from Lucy and setting them down in his trunk on top of a copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_.

"Yeah I guess, Lils, but the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students left this morning, so it feels like the end."

Lily weighed this up as she folded a pair of trousers, handing them to Lucy to refold them neatly.

The delegations had indeed left for their home schools this morning; Frederick Poliakoff clapping his fellow champions on the back before he left, and Dominique kissing all her cousins before she stepped into her school's carriage and took off. Fred had entered a state of depressed gloom, despite promises of more to come with Dominique, whereas Roxanne seemed quite cheerful that her ex-boyfriend was now out of the way. Nonetheless, there was still an air of silent melancholy about the place: the corridors seemed emptier and the Great Hall quieter at mealtimes.

"Nah," Lily replied. "We'll be fine. Oh, Albus, where do you want me to put your underwear?"

She smirked evilly as Albus blushed scarlet.

"Er, just – put them – oh give them to me …"

Albus snatched his underwear from his sister and shoved them underneath his dress robes. Lily burst out laughing and even Lucy giggled.

Roxanne, however, sighed heavily, flicking her wand and folding Albus's socks.

"What's up, Rox?" Lily looked at her with concern from under her glasses.

"I'm not coming back," her friend said glumly. "This is the last week I'll have in this place. Forever! I mean, I grew up here, you know?"

Lily nodded.

"Yeah, but maybe this is what life is all about. Moving onwards and upwards, that sort of thing."

"Besides," James cut in, strolling over to the quartet with one of Albus's books that he had been sneakily reading by the fireplace; he dropped it down on top of his brother's trunk before continuing, "it's not like you'll never see us again. And at any rate, we'll be coming back in September, won't we?"

"What?" Roxanne stared at James with wide eyes. "Since when?"

"We come back to discuss our career choices, remember? And if we get the required NEWT grades."

"Oh," Roxanne smiled slightly, "that's not too bad then."

James murmured his agreement, winked at her and left the Gryffindor common room.

No sooner had he left when the Portrait door banged open again and in stormed Rose, her face purple.

"Where is he?" she screeched, shocking them all. Lucy, who had been in the process of tying Albus's shoelaces together on a pair of his sneakers, jumped violently and consequently sent them flying through the air towards a first-year, who at least had the good sense to duck.

"Where's whom?" Lily enquired, raising an eyebrow and staring at her cousin. "And more to the point, how the hell did you get into our common room? You're a Ravenclaw."

"James let me in," Rose said matter-of-factly. "BUT WHERE IN THE NAME OF MERLIN IS HE?"

"James?" Roxanne wrinkled her nose and exchanged a look with Lucy. "You saw him last, Ro."

"Not JAMES!" Rose screamed. "HUGO!"

A wave of comprehension grew over the quartet; Albus made a non-committal noise and went back to his trunk.

"Why?" Lily asked eagerly, bobbing up and down in anticipation. "What's he done?"

"NOTHING!" Rose threw her hands into the air and then placed them on her hips. "That's the whole point!"

"Well," Lucy began quietly, "what's he _supposed_ to have done?"

Rose glared at her, her bushy red hair seeming to crackle with electricity.

"He was supposed," she said through gritted teeth, advancing towards Lucy with each word, "to have –"

"There he is!" beamed Lily, who seemed to be enjoying the drama. Rose turned to see where Lily was pointing: a bemused Hugo was standing by the Portrait Hole, his freckly face puzzled as to what on earth his sister was doing in his common room.

"Hi, Rosie," he said faintly, still not having got to grips with the situation. "Erm … what's up?"

Rose turned to face him properly, her blue eyes narrowing until they were almost slits.

"You," she hissed. "Haven't you done _enough_?"

Hugo frowned with confusion and looked questioningly at Albus, who grimaced at him and stayed silent.

"What's going on?"

"What's going on?" Rose repeated shrilly. "WHAT'S GOING _ON_?"

"The Weird Sisters, for me," Lily muttered to Roxanne and plugged her earphones in.

"You," Rose said to Hugo in a frightening voice, "forgot to hand in my NEWT application to Professor Fawcett!"

"No I didn't," Hugo calmly replied, shrugging. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"He does!" Roxanne yelled, who, like Lily was, seemed to be enjoying crazy-Rose a lot more than was absolutely necessary. "I can tell by the look on his face!"

But Hugo had fallen quiet, and he stared at hard at his demented sister until his face cleared and he sighed.

"Oh _that_," he said at last, breathing a sigh of relief. "Well, of course I did. I'm a very busy man."

Rose's face contorted; her hands were shaking as she pointed a finger at her brother.

"_I_," she hissed, her voice oozing with venom, "am going to _kill you_."

Roxanne snorted.

"Really, Rose," she began rationally. "I think that's going a bit far, don't you?"

"No!" Rose shrieked, so loudly that Roxanne reached for one of Lily's earphones too; Lucy started trembling slightly; and Albus walked up to Lucy and held her close.

"Lighten up, sis," Hugo said, grinning at his big sister. "I'll hand it in now."

Rose fell silent, eyeing him suspiciously. Then, at last, with collective sighs of relief from everyone in the common room, she smiled.

"Yeah, all right," she said, ruffling Hugo's brown hair fondly. Hugo glared at her, shook his head to straighten his hair back to its rightful place; then, before Rose could begin to protest, he grabbed her around the middle and lifted her into his arms.

"C'mon, Rosie," he said, despite her panicking requests to remain on the ground. "You need to come too; you don't belong in the Gryffindor common room."

They left, and everybody went back to their various activities. Lily ripped her earphones out and switched off her portable music player; Roxanne resumed her position beside Albus's trunk, picking up a shirt at random and magically ironing it with a flick of her wand. Lucy and Albus, however, stayed with their arms wrapped around each other; Lucy's head buried into his chest, his lying on her brown hair.

"Oh for the love of -" Lily began, shaking her head and pulling a face. But Roxanne stopped her, holding up a hand quietly and slowly advancing towards their two friends.

"Luce?" she said in a strange voice. "Albus?"

Albus and Lucy both jumped at the sound of her voice and let go of each other immediately. Lucy, as Roxanne had correctly suspected, was blushing; but the oddity was that Albus's face had also gone red.

"I - er ..." the latter began, fumbling with his glasses and scarpering towards a smirking Lily. "Yes, er, packing. Right. Hi, Lily."

Lily nodded casually in his direction, winking at Lucy slyly. Both she and Roxanne waited for Lucy to begin a series of strangled speech too, but instead the latter surprised them all by walking coolly towards Albus and slipping her hand into his.

* * *

"All right, buddy," James said to apparent thin air, walking down a corridor and stopping at a small alcove in the wall. Instead of emptiness, there he knew sat Lysander.

His best friend was sitting on a small ledge, gazing out of the window, a rather forlorn look on his face. At the sound of James's voice he winced slightly and sat up.

"Hello, Jay," he said quietly, making room for James.

"We need to have words," the red-headed seventh-year said sternly, sitting down beside his best mate. James's appearance was, frankly, not quite up to Hogwarts's standards. His Gryffindor tie was knotted around his head; instead of black school shoes he was wearing a scruffy pair of sneakers that had seven years of magical graffiti covering them (Lysander recognized his own signature near the laces); and he had traded his school shirt for an old Quidditch jersey that was faded and falling apart. "About Lily."

Lysander groaned inwardly. Ever since the Third Task he had thought this would happen sooner or later, and at last the moment had arrived for an interrogation.

"Go on," he said, waving a hand in the air.

"I'm not very happy about this," James began in an authoritive tone, adjusting his tie so his fringe could lie flat over his eyes. "Well, actually, yes I am, but ... Look, the point is, if you hurt her or break her heart -"

"I won't!" Lysander laughed softly. "I love Lily."

"_Really_?" James said suspiciously, narrowing his hazel eyes and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes!" Lysander said, eyeing his best friend's appearance. "Nice jeans, by the way."

"Thanks," James said, stretching his legs out to get a better view of his black skinny jeans and red and gold belt. "Gryffindor colours."

Lysander nodded his approval and grinned awkwardly.

"So, Lily," he said after a long pause.

"Oh yes!" James said. "Lily. How do I know you're not going to break her little heart like Malfoy did?"

"I love her," Lysander glared at his best friend. "She's like everything I ever wanted. I've loved her for ages, way before I even knew I did ... if that makes sense. But it's as though when she's not with me, I feel this emptiness, this space in my heart that only she can fill. I know it sounds awfully silly, but she really is everything to me."

James snickered.

"Absolutely silly," he agreed. "But I know what you mean. That's good; I always thought you were a decent guy. Now, wanna go and trash the Great Hall?"


	22. Blissful Oblivion

"Come on, Hugo," Lily held her hand out for her cousin to take as she and the rest of the school raced down the Grand Staircase in efforts to get outside. It was the last day of the academic year and everybody was in various states of disarray: seventh-years were sobbing noisily with their arms around one another, upset that their school lives with their friends had finally come to an end; Rose and her Ravenclaw friends had spent the entire morning running to and from the library, returning books they had borrowed and looking up any last-minute references in the library's many manuscripts; Fred and Roxanne had given up entirely with helping others do frantic packing and had instead used up their time by bombing first-years with water bombs, Stink Pellets and fireworks from their father's shop; and James had taken advantage of the empty castle grounds and had organised a Quidditch game with Molly and some other students in the Quidditch Pitch.

Hugo, who had packed weeks ago and had spent the day gossiping with Lily, Albus and Lucy in the common room, slipped his hand into his cousin's and laughed, the freedom of what was ahead overwhelming him entirely.

Lily beamed at him, her hazel eyes sparkling with life; but, as Hugo began saying something to her, Scorpius Malfoy walked past, hand in hand with his new girlfriend, Olivia Reynolds. His grey eyes met Lily's.

"See you next year," he said pleasantly after a long, heart-stopping pause. Hugo had caught sight of him too: he snarled and stood closer to his cousin in means of acting as protection.

"Yeah," Lily said in an odd voice. "I'll see you around."

Their mouths twitched simultaneously in efforts of smiling; but the moment soon passed and Olivia Reynolds dragged Scorpius away.

"Come on, Hugo!" Lily said again, grinning widely at her cousin. Hugo smiled back and the two cousins jumped their way down the rest of the staircase, finishing at the bottom with a grand gesture of accomplishment, their arms in the air. A Ravenclaw boy winked at them, his arm around a Slytherin girl.

"Can you believe this year is over?" Lucy Weasley gushed, as she caught up with the two fourth-years at the foot of the Grand Staircase. "It's been great."

"I know," Albus agreed, who was right behind Lucy and swung an arm around her and Hugo in turn. "Still, there's always next year."

"Another year," Hugo sighed reflectively, "been and gone; and another one yet to come."

Roxanne and Fred, who were making a great show of bidding farewell to Professor McGonagall, noticed the quartet and made their way over.

"Oh, how dramatic," Roxanne drawled, slipping an arm around Lily's waist. Her red layered hair was bunched up on the back of her head, a Gryffindor tie wrapped loosely through it.

Fred, however, had shoved his hair, sweeping side-fringe and all, under a green beanie hat in the shape of a frog that contrasted heavily with his bright red sweatshirt. His dark brown eyes twitched as he took in his surroundings for the last time.

"Penny for your thoughts," his sister joked, punching him lightly on the arm with her free hand.

Fred sighed, words seeming to fail him as he drew his eyes away from the hustle and bustle of the Entrance Hall.

"You'll be all right," Hugo said softly as Fred made no effort of replying to his sister; and peered at the twins from around his cousin. "I know you will."

Fred smiled sadly back at him, his heart aching with the fact that he would never be coming back.

"I wish I'd made the most of it," he said dully, kicking a pebble out of his path as they walked out into the courtyard. Students were everywhere, yet they were all heading in the same direction towards the station. "All these years of messing around …"

"Are you kidding me?" Albus interjected, pushing his glasses up his nose and staring around him freely. "You two have probably got the best NEWT grades in the history of the school according to what Lysander told me after you all did your exams."

"It's not the same, though, is it?" Fred shot back, casting a dark look to a group of Hufflepuff second-year girls from under his lashes.

There was a pause as the others tried to think of a response; at last, Lucy found one.

"You still had fun. You two … your pranks were the best thing about this school."

"Aside from the obvious articulate lessons," Roxanne imitated Rose by speaking in a very pompous tone of voice.

Her friends laughed as Rose appeared in front of them with Helena; and she turned around to glare when Lily wolf-whistled at her back. Once she saw it was her cousin, Rose smiled and waved, ignoring Hugo's conspicuous snickering. She soon turned her head and walked away with her friends, her red bushy hair flying out behind her from the wind.

"James and Lysander should be at the station by now," Lily murmured and hopped down the few steps that led to the long path towards the platform. "I saw them leave the common room just as we were getting ready to go."

"Unless they decided to bomb the greenhouses," Lucy laughed, and Fred and Roxanne suddenly looked awfully uncomfortable.

Meeting their cousins' inquiring and somewhat humorous glances, the twins looked at each other for confirmation before speaking.

"We contemplated doing it in our third year," Roxanne stuttered, almost blushing with everybody's eyes pinned on her.

Suddenly, Fred grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the way of a parade of first-years who were cheering and whooping with the prospect of a long summer ahead; then adjusted his green frog hat and bounded onto the platform.

"Race you to find Jay first!" he yelled, running ahead to board the train; its scarlet paintwork was glinting in the sun and jets of coal-like clouds puffed out from its engine.

Albus and Lucy, in a fit of summertime madness, clasped hands and sprinted onto the Hogwarts Express, Hugo following suit after adjusting his rucksack on his shoulder.

Lily stayed with Roxanne; the two girls slowed their pace to let a group of boys pass them and then continued ambling towards what they knew was the end of the seventh-years' time at Hogwarts.

"I suppose you're the young ones now," Roxanne shrugged lightly, her smile wavering as she squinted past the many students that filled the platform.

"Nah," Lily waved a hand breezily, feeling a tug on one of her red pigtails. She turned and caught sight of Molly waving at her before she climbed aboard with a Ravenclaw sixth-year called Sebastian. "We're all growing up, every one of us. Even James – although I suppose that's a bit of a stretch."

Roxanne winked at her as they finally reached the door to the middle carriage; the one that was so usually occupied by their cousins and friends for the long journeys to and from their school.

"Guess so," she agreed, placing a Doc Martined foot on the step up to the carriage and eyeing Lily's small frame beadily. "Mind, you've still got a way to go before you reach seventh-year."

Lily playfully pushed her onto the train and the two girls made their way down the carriage, stopping only to exchange words with friends they knew from their respective years. At last, they found James and Lysander's compartment – Rose, who was sitting on the floor by the window with Helena reading a heavy book, had magically expanded the compartment to fit in all of her siblings and cousins.

Lysander had saved a space between him and James for Lily; he looked up as he noticed movement outside the compartment door and waved.

Roxanne, however, seemed reluctant to let her and Lily go inside just yet.

"Just remember," she said softly, "where I am. Anybody gives you grief next year and you know who to call."

Lily stared up at her and nodded.

"Next year …" she echoed.

Roxanne smiled and finally pushed open the door, but her cousin was standing frozen in place. She turned to her.

Lily's usually pale face had gone many shades lighter; she now looked like a ghost. Her hazel eyes were filled with horror and her mouth gaped as she turned to the newly ex-Hogwarts student.

"Bollocks!" she screeched, so loudly it startled herself out of her reverie and Roxanne jumped in fright. From inside the compartment Albus and Lucy, who were nearest the door with their arms around each other, were eyeing them with interest. "I'm sitting my OWLs next year!"

Roxanne laughed with relief that it wasn't something more dreadful, nudged her lightly with her shoulder and pushed open the compartment door.

"Finally!" James complained, leaping to his feet and ushering them in without a backwards glance. He shoved Lily, who was still in a slight state of shock, down next to Lysander who slipped his hand into hers. James resumed his place next to his sister and eyed his friends with an eagle eye.

Roxanne had shoved herself next to her twin brother, the two pranksters were cracking loud jokes for the benefit of those nearest to them; Rose and Helena had begun a conversation with Molly's new friend Sebastian about the Montrose Magpies Quidditch team; Hugo was trading Chocolate Frog Cards with Molly, his brown hair pushed back from his freckled face in the heat and the top few buttons of his shirt undone, his jumper in a crumpled heap on Molly's lap; Lucy and Albus were trying against fate to not make it too obvious they were quietly exchanging sweet nothings in the corner of the compartment; and Lysander and Lily, their hands still entwined, had started reminiscing about the drama of the year that was now drawing to an end.

James closed his eyes from behind his glasses and smiled.

He knew that wherever life took him, whether it would be good, bad or a complete surprise (after all, he still had his NEWT results to wait for, and he was certain there'd be a couple of nasty surprises there) he'd still have his family.

And that, he mused, was the most important thing he'd learnt this entire year: not how to battle a basilisk; not how to destroy a relationship with his little sister and then piece it back together again by saving her from a troll; but the simple fact that no matter where he went, no matter who he met or what he did, he'd still have his family. His siblings, cousins, even his best friends … to him, they were all family; and he was here with them now, enjoying the last short stretch of the school year before they all met their parents at Platform 9¾.

He grinned, sunk lower in his seat and decided that this was, actually, his blissful oblivion.

And he wouldn't have changed it for the world.


End file.
